SpaceCamp Underground Labyrinth style.
by Jade4
Summary: What happens when Jareth sends a few of his listians to SpaceCamp? Nothing but trouble.
1. SpaceCamp UGL style

Disclaimer: Idea taken from 80's film, Spacecamp', but set with Labyrinth in mind. Jareth  
belongs to Henson, the rest is Spacecamp. As for the unlucky listians I tormented, Oops! *g*   
Better luck next fic. note: I followed the movie VERY closely, so if you have seen it...Shoosh!   
_____________________________________________________________________________  
  
  
Everyone at one point in their life has wanted to obtain the unthinkable. Achieve what some  
would think merely insane. So goes with a few of Jareth's listians. Only difference is he usually  
gave them the opportunity, whether they wanted it or not.   
  
First they thought they needed therapy. Major mistake on his part to let such a thing happen.   
Next came the dreaded slumber party which he will never live down again. Then there was the  
Garage Sale idea that never took flight. Last time he spent much time with his listians, he got his  
butt whooped by a bunch of women playing softball. That thought had not settled too well with  
him. There had to be one thing he could do that would show them that he was better.   
  
As he sifted through the many thoughts of all his listians, Jareth pushed aside their smuttiness and  
concentrated on the tangible ideas. A grin lighted his face as he realized the perfect plan. They  
would spend a summer together at camp. Not just any camp.... SpaceCamp. He knew far too  
well that most of them were adventurous enough to want to challenge fate.   
  
In an instant he was gone. Many preparations had to be taken care of, soon his listians would  
show up eager for their chance to humiliate him. Appearing on a runway, Jareth stood there  
watching the planes flying over head. A smile on his face, he waited patiently for the pilot to land  
so he could have a word with them.  
  
"Did you hear?" a voice called out to the man coming up behind him as he stood there shielding  
his eyes from the harsh light.  
  
"I heard," he replied as Commander Bergstrom walked up beside him.   
  
"I'm not going up!" she exclaimed, walking toward her husband and Jareth. "Those blockheads  
chose that pompous moron over me," she continued angrily. "He gets airsick in cars for heaven's  
sake!" she finished, a look of utter disbelief filling her features.  
  
"I know Andie, and I'm sorry. Better luck next time," Zach stated with a smile.   
  
"You're damn right I will. You're not going to be the only one in this family to walk on the  
moon," she answered quickly.  
  
"Well look at the bright side of this one. Now you'll get to spend the summer with me at  
SpaceCamp," Zach mentioned, watching as she stopped short.   
  
"Zach, I don't want to babysit a group of kids this summer," she noted.  
  
"They aren't your ordinary kids," Jareth interrupted.   
  
"And you are?" she asked, her patience wearing thin.   
  
"Jareth," he replied coolly.   
  
"He's sending a group to SpaceCamp this year," Zach offered. "You promised."   
  
"So? Terrific, I get to play Let's pretend I'm an astronaut' with a bunch of kids," Andie replied  
sarcastically.   
  
"Come on Andie. These aren't just any kids you know? They're clean cut, all American kids,"  
Zach replied, shutting the door behind her.   
  
Jareth cleared his throat. "They aren't all American."  
  
Andie laughed. "Of course not," she replied, not sure what to make of the whole situation. She  
wasn't ready for another summer of headstrong kids.   
  
"Let's get back to meet the kids," Zach stated, sliding into the seat and waiting for Jareth to get in  
as well before heading back to the awaiting kids.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~  
A white Volvo pulled into the parking lot, taking up residence in one of the Commander's spaces.   
Oasis music blaring, the young woman moved to the beat without a care in the world. She didn't  
notice a little red sports car pull up behind her.   
  
"That looks like one of your clean cut kids now. Oh yes, I can spot them a mile away," Andie  
stated, getting out of the car and walking toward the building.   
  
Jareth followed close behind. That music sounded so familiar, even the back of the head looked  
familiar. Nearing the Volvo, he rolled his eyes. There sat one of his listians.   
  
"Hey there tights! What's up big guy?" she shouted, noticing that Jareth wasn't in his standard  
issue clothing.   
  
"Hello to you too Selah," he spoke through clenched teeth. Turning, he followed Andie toward  
the building.   
  
Selah laughed. She had a knack for getting under his skin, and she loved every minute of it.   
Glancing over her shoulder, she could faintly make out another man just before he stopped by her  
window. With a smile, she greeted this new arrival.   
  
"Would you mind turning the music down?" he asked, his voice rough and ragged.  
  
"Wha?" she replied, cupping her ear to hear better.  
  
"The music, turn it down," he stated again. When Selah nodded and decreased the volume of her  
radio, he smiled and asked her how she liked it so far.  
  
"What's not to like? I haven't been here that long," she replied, a goofy grin lighting her face.   
The sound of a single engine plane fell on their ears causing Selah to look up. "Whoa, got a real  
handle on technology, eh?" she chuckled.   
  
"Yes," he grimaced. "Now if you don't mind, get your car out of my parking spot."  
  
"Oh, sorry. Truly sorry about this, won't happen again," she apologized, starting the car and  
moving to another spot. Turning off the ignition, she watched the plane land with interest.   
When she witnessed who got out, she flew from the Volvo on a set course to the plane.  
  
"Jade!" she called, her voice carrying across the open air.  
  
Jade glanced up and smiled. "Selah!" she called back. Jumping down from the wing, she headed  
toward her friend. "What brings you here?" she asked.  
  
"Same thing that brings you I suppose. Jareth," Selah stated.  
  
"He helped, but I really wanted to come," Jade replied. "This is going to be great!"   
  
"Let's go. We have so much chaos to create, and little time to do it," Selah smirked. "Besides,  
we have to see who else is here."   
  
"Bye dad! Oh, you need to have that left mag checked out. It's been sticking a bit," Jade called  
back, then followed Selah off across the parking lot.  
  
As they walked up the steps, they never shut up one bit. Even though they were from the same  
state, they couldn't have been much more different. Selah was always the comedian and Jade was  
the opposite, always dramatic and serious.  
  
Picking up their badges and uniform, they moved on to find the lucky one to be graced with their  
presence. A voice over the intercom ushered them outside into the rocket park to meet the other  
members of their team and the counselor. Finally finding where they needed to go, they waited  
and talked some more. Without a moments notice, Selah screamed when an unfamiliar hand  
grabbed her shoulder. Turning quickly, her fear soon dissipated when Jade spoke.  
  
"Lisee!" Jade exclaimed.  
  
"Hey," she smiled in return. "Didn't mean to scare you like that Zigster."  
  
"S'okay. Mesa forgive yousa this time," Selah grinned.  
  
"Oy, Gungan." Leelee stated.  
  
"Hey there!" a voice called.  
  
"Brat!" Jade called out. "How the heck are ya Kara?"   
  
"Fine," she replied. "Which one of you nuts gave dad this idea?"  
  
"That would be Jade," Selah answered quickly.  
  
"Hey," Jade giggled.   
  
"Years ago SpaceCamp was created not only to provide you with hands on access to space  
hardware, but also to teach you how to work together as a team. Hi, I'm Andie Bergstrom," a  
new voice cut through their discussion.  
  
"Ah an astronaut, first female pilot," Jade stated, surprise and awe filled her face.   
  
"Yeah, how did you know that?" Andie asked, completely taken aback.  
  
"I've read all about you. Lets see, you were the backup pilot for the first Discovery flight. Coats  
got it instead?" Jade rambled.  
  
"Yeah...I remember," Andie replied.  
  
"What are you doing here?" she asked.  
  
Andie moved on, not wanting to go into detail about it. "Hello," Andie said with a smile. "And  
what is your name?" she asked, looking down at her clipboard.  
  
"Lisa King," Leelee replied. "But most people call me Leelee." she finished, swaying back and  
forth in place, humming the theme song to Scooby Doo.   
  
"You look like a gal with a lot of energy. I'm making you Mission Specialist number one;  
Equipment function and operations," Andie said, making a note on her board.  
  
"Oh wow," Leelee gleamed.   
  
"Great, let a Sith at the controls and we're all doomed," Selah mumbled. Leelee stuck her tongue  
out at Selah and smiled wickedly.   
  
"Hi Andie I'm Kara," Kara offered, then pointed to her name on the clipboard. "Kara Benton."  
  
"What brings you to SpaceCamp Kara?" Andie asked.  
  
"Well I did this audit at JPL in radio astronomy. Unbelievable... I mean can you imagine an  
extraterrestrial disc jockey? Like listening to radio waves from space?" Kara spoke, not realizing  
how crazy she sounded at that precise moment.   
  
"I know the feeling," Andie replied, still studying the girl in front of her, then continued. "I'm  
making you Mission Specialist number two; communications."  
  
"Oh, cool!" Kara grinned.   
  
"Hey, I'm Gemma," a new voice added.   
  
Andie took in the 5 foot 3 inch form of a young girl smiling back at her. "What are you doing  
here? Shouldn't you be in juniors?" Andie asked.  
  
"Oh come on. I'm not an iccle kiddie," Gemma whined. "I can see that you're gobsmacked and I  
can't blame you. Please don't send me away, I'm really supposed to be here. I swear!" Gemma  
stated.  
  
"Alright," Andie conceded with a sly smile. "Gemma Coward, right?"   
  
Gemma nodded her head gleefully then made a face at the others as soon as Andie turned her  
back.  
  
"Selah Specht," Andie said, wondering if she pronounced that name right.   
  
"That would be me," Selah piped up happily.  
  
"I'm Jade, and it's an honor to meet you," Jade stated, shaking Andie's hand.   
  
"I have two positions left; Pilot and Shuttle Commander," Andie said, looking the two of them  
over with interest. "Selah, why don't you tell me why you'd like to be Shuttle Commander?"   
  
"Oh, I wouldn't. I was thinking more along the lines of mission regent or sovereign maybe?   
Something like that?" she smiled.   
  
"Jade, what about you?"  
  
"I know a lot about the space program. I want to be the first female Shuttle Commander," Jade  
stated.  
  
"And you think that's more important than Pilot?" Andie asked.  
  
"Oh yeah," Jade replied.  
  
"S'okay, let Jadey have it. I don't care," Selah offered.  
  
"Really?" Andie asked.  
  
"Yeah," Selah replied.   
  
"Well now that you're Shuttle Commander you're gonna have to start to care, aren't you Selah?"  
Andie threw back. "Jade, you can be pilot."  
  
"But?" Jade interrupted.  
  
"Pilot." Andie stated firmly, ending the conversation.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Leading her group on a tour of the facilities, Andie explained everything from the cargo bay and  
storage palettes to the remote manipulator system used in repairs or satellite link ups.   
  
"This is a zero gravity chair, rides on a cushion of air which creates the feeling of weightlessness  
you would encounter when you leave the Earth's atmosphere." she explained. "Come on Gem,"  
she called back to Gemma as she stood there staring at the chair.  
  
Gemma took one last look then followed the group quickly, failing to realize Jareth watching the  
small group with interest. Gemma started up the ramp of the flight simulator and squealed in  
delight. "I wonder if Maul knew how to fly one of these things?" she giggled.  
  
"This is the Shuttle Simulator which you're gonna learn to fly at speeds of up to mock  
twenty-five," Andie explained.  
  
Leelee sat down in the pilot seat and looked over the console with a wide grin and one hand on  
the yolk. Gemma sat opposite her as she looked around and Andie continued on with her  
explanation.  
  
"I know it looks complicated now but when you get the basics down it's real easy. In fact, the  
computer does most of the work. Now the first lesson that I want to teach you..." Andie started  
but broke off as the simulator shot up quickly, throwing everyone off balance. Regaining her  
composure, Andie continued. "Why I won't touch anything until I know how to use it."  
  
"By Lisa King." Leelee stated softly with her hands in the air.  
  
"Right," Andie replied.  
  
"Yeah Leelee," Selah mumbled.   
  
They emerged out of the simulator and continued on their way with Andie continuing the lecture.  
"This is the Mercury Sigma Seven. When they were building these capsules, the astronauts  
demanded the Engineers design a way for them to be able to pilot the capsule back through the re  
entry through the Earth's atmosphere. Otherwise they'd feel like monkeys in a zoo."  
  
Selah stood against a nearby exhibit with her head propped up on her arm listening to everything  
that was going on. Trying to keep track of all the data that Andie kept throwing at them, she felt  
as though she were back in school again. All of a sudden she got knocked in the head by  
something and quickly moved from where she was standing.   
  
"Ow!" Selah exclaimed, "What the hell was that?"   
  
Gemma laughed heartily. "Prototype maintenance droid. NASA built them for the space station."  
  
"When's it going up?" Selah asked, watching as it moved ever so slowly from its hiding place.   
  
"He's not. They blew it on the shielding. His chips become unpredictable in about two hours,"  
Gemma offered. She noticed the glances she was getting for knowing that. "So I read a lot, sue  
me."  
  
"He's such a complex piece of machinery, NASA hasn't been able to iron out all the bugs. So he  
helps out here and at Kennedy." Andie explained.  
  
"Jinx!" a shout called out. Immediately the little droid took notice, getting down from its position  
and wandering across the floor.   
  
"A midget extraterrestraial!" Kara exclaimed as Jinx rolled past her.   
  
"No, he's the world's only twenty-seven million dollar handy-man," Andie replied, chuckling  
softly at their interest.  
  
Jinx extended a small arm and latched onto an object then spun around to an arm wiggling in the  
air out from under a metal platform.   
  
"Where the hell is that ratchet?" the man's voice asked, slightly irritated.   
  
"In...your...hand," the metal voice of Jinx replied, dropping the ratchet in his hand.   
  
The group of girls giggled softly at the reply from the tiny droid. "And quite literal. Come on,  
you've all met Jinx," Andie stated, leading them away.  
  
Gemma remained where she was. With a small smile, she watched the droid moving around the  
floor and wondered what it would be like to have one. Hearing her name called, she tore her eyes  
away from Jinx and trotted off after the group. Glancing back once, she shook her head at the  
warped ideas that ran through her mind.   
  
Jareth stood in the shadows, a grin on his face. So his little Gemma liked the robot. Perhaps he  
should see to it that they became buddies. Ah yes, maybe his listians would do marvelously and  
look back upon this experience and thank him.  
  
Voices in the hall caught his attention as he glanced toward them. Here come more of his lucky  
listians. Leading the pack was none other than the Smut Queen. Her burgundy hair shining in the  
light, she was laughing with Dee and Christy. Fairy followed behind them talking with Meghan.   
  
Not far behind them came the next group lead by the resident Sith Lord Easy' Essy. Spidey  
looked everything over as Jen laughed at Mairead picking on Paola. Jareth noted they seemed to  
be the loudest of his listians so far. Disappearing into the shadows, his work was done for the  
day. Soon they would all rest so that they would be ready for the next day.   
~~~~~~~~~  
  
The barracks were buzzing with the eager discussions between friends. The listians had all found  
each other and talked about the day they had and why they thought they were there. Of course  
they blamed Jareth, but they had come to terms with his silly idea. A short time later, they went  
their separate ways. Some went walking to take in the fresh night air. Others went to raid the  
guy's barracks just to see if they could get away with it. The rest stayed in, content with a quiet  
evening of rest.  
  
"How many pounds of thrust does the Shuttle produce at lift off?" Christy asked, sitting on the  
top bunk of her bed and looking through her booklet. Shaking her head she set it down in her lap.  
  
"Six million, nine hundred eighty-one thousand, four hundred," Kara answered as though recalling  
the numbers from a distant memory.  
  
"How did you know that?" Christy asked.  
  
Kara shrugged her shoulders and smiled. "I have a knack for remembering odd things."  
  
"Odd is right," Jade laughed, returning her gaze to her book and flipping through the pages.  
  
"What are you doing?" Kara asked, getting down to sit on the bottom bunk with Jade.  
  
"I'm trying to figure out how to run this thing," Jade replied, looking the pages over carefully.  
  
"What, the multi-axis trainer?" Kara asked, reading the page.  
  
"Yes," Jade replied, her attention still on the pages. "One of the toughest parts of the training.   
Scary for a pilot," she stated. "Know anything about it?"  
  
"Three concentric circles spinning in different directions simultaneously; object to stabilize from  
central point utilizing hand controls," Kara rattled off. Blowing a bubble, she noticed Jade's stare  
of unbelief. "Do you want a piece?" she offered.   
  
Jade took a piece of gum. "How did you know all that?"   
  
"I remember everything I read. It's a real bother sometimes, my mind gets totally cluttered." Kara  
replied. "Do you ever talk about anything other than learning stuff?" she asked, watching Jade go  
to her locker. "What's your essay going to be about?"   
  
"Why I'm going to be the first female shuttle commander," Jade grinned.  
  
"That's going to go down real big," Kara laughed.  
  
"Yeah, Andie will get a kick out of that," Jade replied, with a slight chuckle. "What's your's  
going to be about?"   
  
"I'm going to do I want to go into space to contact life forms that exist on chemicals other than  
carbon and oxygen'." Kara replied.  
  
"You should visit some high schools," Jade laughed. "What about you Christy?"   
  
"I'm still thinking on mine. Most likely something kid related," she offered.   
  
"No doubt," Kara replied.  
  
"Hey, kids are people too. Poor little dears," Christy went on.   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Looking up at the stars, Paola felt as though she were a million miles away. So many different  
solar systems, beauty beyond anyone's conception. Breathing in the cool night air, she turned her  
attention to the small group of listians she had walked with.   
  
"P-chan, how did you manage to get away to come to this?" Fairy asked, running a hand through  
her short hair.   
  
"Jareth," Paola snickered. "Just wouldn't take no for a answer."  
  
"Same here," Mai added.   
  
"Why do you think he went to all the trouble?" Meghan asked, glancing around as though he were  
there watching them.   
  
"Just to see if we could hack it most likely," Paola answered. "He should know by now that we  
are stronger than he knows. Right onna?" she asked, walking up to Fairy and patting her on the  
back.  
  
"Right!" Fairy piped up.   
  
Mai shook her head. "Won't he ever realize that he gets nothing but trouble when we're all  
together?" she laughed.  
  
"Maybe he likes to learn things the hard way," Meghan replied, a smile crossing her lips.   
  
The group of women cracked up laughing as they continued walking along the pavement recalling  
all the adventures that they had encountered so far.   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Shhh..." Leelee hissed, putting her finger to her lips for emphasis. "They catch us, they'll kick us  
out for sure," she mentioned, waving her hand to indicate the offices not far away.  
  
"You're learning apprentice," Essy smiled wickedly as she took up the lead.   
  
"They'll learn not to mess with us," Spidey grinned.   
  
"Right!" Gemma piped in. A grin crossed her face as she thought about what they were doing.   
"Why is it that Jade and Kara didn't come?" she asked.  
  
"Because Jadey's a lightsider and won't stoop to such things," Essy replied.  
  
"Hey!" Selah interjected. "I'm a lightsider you Sith wannabe," she stated.  
  
"Yeah, but you aren't a goody-goody," Essy snickered.   
  
"Oh cut it out," Smut Queen interrupted.   
  
"Yeah, ten to one she's sitting in the barracks studying," Leelee stated with a smirk.   
  
"We're here, be quiet!" Gemma whispered, glancing around to see if the coast was clear.   
Grabbing the door handle, she silently pulled the door open allowing the other entrance into the  
building.   
  
Poking their heads into the darkened room, the women were met with the pleasing noises of  
sleep. Snores and deep breaths filled their ears as they stepped quietly into the room. Sending  
hand signals to each other, they proceeded to booby trap the unsuspecting sleepers.   
  
Gemma strung string from post to post, pausing slightly to partake of the view. Right in front of  
her was a Christian Bale look-alike. Her heart skipped a beat as she gazed at the creature lying  
peacefully in front of her.   
  
Selah carried the buckets quietly through the room until she found her final destination. Securing  
them in place, she glanced around hoping that in some odd way she would find a Jedi there  
smiling back at her through the dark. Instead she was met with snoring.  
  
Essy smiled wickedly as she watched her apprentice tying a few of the studs down to their bed.   
Carrying a roll of duct tape, she taped all the lockers shut, snickering as she watched Spidey  
deposit glitter on the naive enemy.   
  
Gemma stood still, watching the man in her eyesight. Licking her lips, she wondered if she dare  
touch such a wonder. Reaching out a gentle hand, she lightly traced the outline of his face,  
holding her breath at being so close to such a fine creature.   
  
Essy's eyes grew wide when she saw Gemma bending down over a figure. "Stop!" Essy  
whispered harshly.   
  
Leelee's head snapped up to see what Essy was carrying on about. "Selah, stop her!" she called  
out, heading toward the door. They would be caught for sure.   
  
Selah took off quickly toward Gemma, but reached her too late.   
  
Gemma smothered his mouth with hers, wanting to drink of his lips thinking only thoughts of the  
beautiful Christian. A startled cry from beneath her and a set of hands pushing urgently against  
her shoulders, Gemma snapped back to reality. With a gasp and speed she didn't know she had,  
she ran from the building in haste, her cheeks flushing bright red as she followed her counterparts   
away and back toward the barracks.   
  
Bursting into the building in a fit of hysteria, the group of women collapsed on the beds. Jade,  
Kara and Christy immediately took notice of their entrance, wondering what went on. After being  
filled in on the events of the evening, they all calmed down and settled in for the night.  
  
Gemma snuck from her bed and opened her locker. With a soft giggle, she kissed her fingertips  
and reached out to touch the cool metal of her new friend. "Friends forever, right?" she asked  
softly, her eyes shining with hope.  
  
"Friends....for..ever," his metallic voice replied.  
  
Gemma smiled and looked around to make sure nobody heard them. "Nan night Jinx," she  
whispered softly, closing the door and climbing back into bed.   
~~~~~~~~~~  
  



	2. SpaceCamp pt 2

The next day gave way to more training. Each of the teams went their separate ways, trying to do  
the best they could just to show Jareth they could do it. The red team led by SQ as the Shuttle  
Commander, spent time in the Simulator learning what each of their jobs entailed. The green  
team, led by Essy, took residence in the control room with Jareth overseeing their progress. With  
a smile, he was certain that his team would prevail, given that it was headed by the Sith.   
  
The blue team went through more of the strategic mains, as Andie once again took time to point  
out every last aspect of what they were seeing.   
  
"By the time you leave SpaceCamp, you will know the function of every circuit on the shuttle.   
You may never get the chance to fly in it, but it won't be because you don't know how," Andie  
stated, leading her team through to the anti-gravity chair.  
  
Kara tugged at her jumper, appalled by the lack of originality.   
  
"If you ever get to be astronauts, you'll thank us for making you wear these jumpsuits, because  
they provide ease of movement and additional storage space in orbit," Andie finished, pulling  
Kara along with them. Stopping at the Zero gravity chair, she smiled and motioned Kara into it.  
  
After Kara suited up, she got into the chair and cringed knowing that soon she wouldn't have any  
control over her motions because of the anti-gravity. She knew that the chair was pushed along  
with cushions of air to simulate weightlessness an astronaut would experience during EVA- Extra  
Vehicular Activity; the work done outside the shuttle.   
  
"Cool huh?" Kara smiled, looking down at the group from her spot in the chair. With a small  
kick, she sent the chair moving across the floor, her mouth falling open not sure what to do.  
  
"To work in space, you have to know how to move in it. Don't push off Kara!" Andie called, a  
bit too late as the chair went flying across the smooth floor. "Nothing will stop you unless you're  
acted upon by an outside force!"   
  
Kara hit the wall with a thud but was grateful to have stopped. Who would have thought that a  
simple little chair like this would cause her so much grief? With a sigh, she waited patiently for  
someone to help her down.  
  
Over the next week, Andie's instructions lead her group onward toward being the best, contrary  
to what Jareth wanted. Though his daughter was on that team, he wanted his team to excel. Jade  
learned how to monitor all the onboard systems and feed the data to Selah who as Commander is  
in charge of the orbiter.  
  
"You can suit up in your EMU in five minutes Leelee once you get the hang of it. EMU- That's  
Extravehicular Mobility Unit. You're gonna need it to do any activity in the vacuum of space."   
  
"I am *not* doing activities in the vacuum of space. What if I float away? What if a meteor  
shower hits? What if-" Leelee rattled on, all the possibilities of a quick and not so easy demise  
flooding her brain.  
  
"Just calm down and relax," Andie stated, shaking her head slightly. "Has anyone ever told you  
that you worry too much?"   
  
"Yes," Leelee responded quickly.  
  
"Well then, they were right. Besides, what are the odds you'll get into space? Hm?" Andie  
questioned, trying to make her feel better. Then trying to change the subject, she directed her  
questioning to Jade, calling on the coordinates of the space station. "You have to be able to call  
up whatever information I ask for in a moment. Split second decisions are essential. You're  
traveling at seventeen thousand miles an hour there is no room for error."  
  
The rest of the day was spent in the shuttle simulator, suiting up, learning how to run everything.   
Things seemed to be going great until they left the simulator and headed for the Multi-axis  
Trainer. "Okay Jade, now it's your turn in the Multi-Axis Trainer. This is one of the most critical  
tests to master, especially if you want to achieve top ranking here as a shuttle pilot."  
  
Jade's eyes stared at the hardest part of her training, the three metal circles with a seat sitting in  
the middle. With a deep breath, she stepped forward and into the trainer. As she was secured  
into the seat, all she could think about was being the best. She had to give it everything she had  
so that she could be the best.   
  
"Secure?" Andie asked the man as he locked everything up tight.   
  
Selah watched him too. Her mind whirling by as he spoke back and forth to Andie. Oh, he was  
so Obi like she lost herself in another realm of imagination. With a smile, she walked up beside  
him, trying to look interested in what he was doing, all the while just wanting to be close to such a  
heavenly body.   
  
"Okay, you have thirty seconds to stabilize," Andie mentioned, stepping back as they locked it  
into position. "Thirty seconds," she stated again, nodding to the guy at the controls. "Alright,  
start it up."  
  
Slowly the metal circles began to move, elegant at first until finally Jade was spinning in the  
center. Her hands on the controls and the sound of the metal whooshing around her, she now  
only had a limited time to prove herself.   
  
"If the shuttle is spinning when it re-enters the Earth's atmosphere the astronaut has just seconds  
to stabilize or he might enter a flat spin. Keep your head centered, don't turn it right or left,"  
Andie called to Jade. "Push your stick forward."  
  
"I got it," Jade replied, concentrating on what she was doing. She was beginning to doubt her  
abilities.  
  
"Fifteen seconds," Andie relayed. "You're going to the right, turn it left."  
  
"Go right, right!" Gemma interrupted. "Come on, you can..." Gemma started but was cut off by  
Andie's motion to quiet down.   
  
"Come on Jade, you're not a passenger you're a pilot. Fly it!" Andie prodded.  
  
"I'm trying!" Jade shot back, doing everything in her power to contradict the forces being placed  
about her.   
  
"You've got ten seconds," Andie said, looking down at her stopwatch.  
  
"Oh, I'm gonna be sick," Leelee muttered.  
  
"Five seconds, come on Jade.... Fly it!" Shaking her head as she pushed the button on her  
stopwatch, she told the guy to shut it down.   
  
The trainer slowed in speed finally coming to a halt. "Why'd you stop? I would have gotten it in  
another minute," Jade spoke immediately.   
  
"Another minute, you would have been burnt up in re-entry. Come on and get out, we're running  
late," Andie stated, glancing at the others of the group. Starting to walk away toward the control  
room, Jade called out to her.  
  
"Andie! I can do it, you're just not giving me a chance." Jade said, a stern look crossing her face.   
She knew she could do it.  
  
Andie sighed. "Alright, five minutes...but that's all," Andie smiled. "Come on Selah," she called  
out. "Okay, next I'm going to show you how to strap into our orbital exerciser, Leelee you  
wanna go first?"   
  
"Hell no!" she replied quickly.  
  
Jade got back to the trainer and started to get strapped in, when the controller was called away  
unexpectedly. Pulling at the straps, she was bound determined to get this exercise down pat. She  
heard Selah walking up behind her.  
  
"I wouldn't let Andie get to you like that," she said, walking around to get Jade's attention.  
  
"I'm going to please her even if I spend the rest of my life trying," Jade replied, pulling on the  
straps.  
  
"Why do you want to please anybody but yourself?" she asked, knowing the countless times Jade  
had told her that very same thing.   
  
Jade smiled, "I don't know," she replied softly, shaking her head.   
  
"I'm not an expert, but it seems to me that if you'd just ease up on the thing, you could handle it.   
You're just trying too hard," Selah stated with a smirk.  
  
"Ha-ha," Jade replied, pulling at the straps once again.  
  
"Geez Jade, lighten up will ya?" Selah asked, starting to walk away, but stopped short. "I wasn't  
going to say anything, but a group of us are going to check out the shuttle tonight," Selah stated,  
a wicked grin on her face. "Wanna come to?"  
  
"Get caught breaking curfew? No way," she replied instantly.  
  
"Come on Jadey, you know you wanna come," Selah prodded.  
  
"Nuh-uh, too risky," she replied, shaking her head.  
  
"If I could handle that, would you come? Oh come on, it'll do you good to get out away from  
studying all the time," Selah mentioned.  
  
Jade bit her lip, knowing she was making a terrible mistake, but couldn't pass up the chance to see  
the shuttle. "Alright," she replied softly. "If we get caught, I'm going to kill you," she grinned.  
  
"Hey, Mesa knows all the connections. Not a chance!" Selah laughed, heading off toward the  
group and passing the Trainer controller along the way and tweaking his bum.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Anyone seen that droid around?" Selah asked, looking at the small group that was getting ready  
for their outing.  
  
"No, why?" Leelee asked, swatting at Dee.  
  
"What do we need a robot for?" Dee asked, ducking away from Leelee.  
  
"Oh, nothing," Selah replied. Her doubt settling over them like a dark cloud.  
  
"What's the matter Zigs?" Essy asked, noting the glum look on the face of one that smiled all the  
time.   
  
"Nothing," she replied, sitting down upon the bed.   
  
"Oh she's just bothered that we can't get out tonight," Spidey stated.  
  
"Why?" Dee asked.  
  
"Because we'd end up getting caught you nutbar," Leelee replied hastily.  
  
"Nah, we won't," Gemma smiled, pulling open her locker and revealing the little droid taking up  
residence there. "Yo Jinx," she called.  
  
"Yo Gem!" his tiny voice came back as his lights flickered on.  
  
"Whoa, Gem you had him in here all the time?" Selah asked, not able to control her excitement.   
  
"Yep, he's just a cute iccle thing. I wanted to keep him all to myself," she grinned.   
  
"Great! He can get us to the launchpad," Dee laughed, watching the little droid getting out of the  
locker.  
  
"Shhh...." Selah hissed, looking around. "We need to keep this top secret," she whispered.  
  
"Yay! Classified!" Dee laughed.   
  
As they readied themselves for a night out, the women wondered what would happen if they got  
caught. Jade would kill Ziggy, and the rest of them would most certainly get kicked out of  
SpaceCamp, unless of course Jareth would go to bat for them and arrange for them to stay.  
  
Piling into Selah's car, she started it up and headed out. Everyone was quiet as they neared the  
offices but broke out in laughter as they neared the beach. Jumping from the car, some of them  
ran to the water's edge, others just ran along the beach. A few remained back at the car, taken in  
by the beauty they beheld. There was the shuttle, quiet and majestic; lit up in perfection.  
  
"Would you look at that? Isn't it amazing that it can go from the Earth up to the stars?" Kara  
said, stunned that such a thing could be so magnificent.  
  
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Jade said softly, her green eyes staring at it. Glancing to the stars above she  
could remember going flying at night with her father when she was a little girl. "I always felt as  
though I could reach out and touch them," she whispered. "Look, there's the seven sisters," Jade  
commented, pointing up into the heavens. "It's so beautiful up there, I wish it was like that down  
here."  
  
"I know what you mean. I never stop to just look at the stars anymore," Selah replied, leaning  
against the Volvo. "Doesn't help living in a city either."  
  
"I agree. The stars were always so beautiful back home in California," Kara added softly.  
  
"Look at those goofballs," Selah said, her voice filled with amusement.   
  
Gemma lay flat on the ground, her arms stretched out as she squished the sand through her  
fingers. A big smile on her face, she was relaxed in her surroundings until Essy ran by being  
chased by Leelee who tripped over Gemma's legs. Falling to the ground, Leelee threw sand  
across Gemma, but she didn't care. Instead she got up and walked gingerly toward the water,  
glancing around before dipping in and washing the sand from her body.   
  
Mai, Paola, SQ, and Meghan walked barefoot in the surf talking softly about whatever came to  
mind. Only the sound of the breaking waves could be heard as they walked along, Meghan  
staring out over the horizon briefly wandering what the future held.   
  
The moonlight shining down on the water played happily across the surface as Dee twirled in  
circles, her feet digging into the sand as she laughed softly. Her jacket billowing out behind her,  
she was having too much fun to stop when she realized that Gemma was swimming without her.   
Running headlong into the surf, she screamed a war cry and jumped at Gemma, narrowly missing  
her as she fell into the salty water.   
  
Leelee snickered as she shoved Essy into the water. Standing on the water's edge she laughed as  
the blonde came up for air and cursed her existence. When a wicked smile broke out on Essy's  
face, Leelee should have known to be careful but all too late. Spidey grabbed her arms and pulled  
her into the water with her, screaming all the way.   
~~~~~~~~~~~  
Jareth appeared behind the Volvo watching the display with distaste. Why they weren't back  
where they belonged was far beyond him. And they didn't even invite him; he was hurt. With an  
evil thought, he disappeared to put an end to their fun. Oh yes, he would have revenge.  
  
With a subtle word to the right person, Jareth was in a jeep heading for the beach. The wind  
blowing in his face, he had already made sure that his listians wouldn't be too severely punished.   
He couldn't take it if his listians were caused grief. He'd never hear the end of it most likely.   
  
Nearing the happy listians, he suddenly was saddened. How could he have done this? Turned in  
his own listians without a second thought? Because he was king, dammit and he deserved to be  
recognized! Smiling at that last thought, he stepped out of the jeep when it came to a halt.  
  
Jade noticed headlights coming from behind them and glanced over her shoulder to see Jareth and  
Andie walking up. "Blast it!" she muttered, kicking at the sand and looking at Selah. "I thought  
you said you cleared it?"   
  
"Well, I kinda cleared it," Selah grimaced.   
  
"Way to go Selah," Kara muttered, walking around the Volvo only to come face to face with her  
dad. "Um.... hi dad, what brings you out here?" she smiled.  
  
"Cut the crap Kara, where are you supposed to be?" he asked sternly. Kara hung her head, not  
able to come back to his question. "Get in the jeep Kara," he said, glancing at the rest of them.   
  
The swimming ceased as they stood up, the water running from their bodies. Glum looks all  
around, they filed out slowly and walked without a word to the jeep to be taken back. With  
heavy hearts, they knew they would have to work much harder to gain back the trust they had  
established so far.  
  
Back at Zach's office, Jade walked away angry that she stupid enough to go along with it, though  
she did enjoy the time out there. She heard Andie calling to her, but payed her no heed. She  
knew that she would blow up at Andie in a heartbeat.   
  
Selah walked quietly after them unhappily. She felt as though she let her friend down, and now  
she thought for sure Andie was going to boot her out of camp. When Andie took off after Jade,  
she was relieved, but still the doubt of succeeding plagued her. Why couldn't she be serious for  
once, at least here? It was so much easier in college, she at least knew what was expected of her,  
but here everything was different. Heading back to the barracks to get some sleep, she only  
hoped that Jade would let her make things right again.  
  
"Jade," Andie said, catching her arm. "We were just talking, but that's not the issue here and you  
know it."  
  
Jade spun around to face her. "Nobody cares about SpaceCamp more than I do, and you've been  
on my case since day one. Why?" she asked pointedly.   
  
Andie took a breath and shook her head. "First time I met you I saw it in your eyes. It was like  
looking in a mirror. You're special Jade," she stated.  
  
Jade laughed. "I'm not special. Never have been and never will. But I need to know, why are  
you so hard on me?" she asked seriously.   
  
"Because some day you're goin' up. But the only way you will is if you have every drill down  
better than everyone else. There's no room for mistakes. Every I dotted, every T crossed.   
That's the way I learned it...that's the way you'll learn it," Andie replied softly. "You copy?" she  
asked.  
  
"Copy," Jade replied with a slight nod. Giving her one last look, she took off toward the barracks  
not sure of how to take this new information.   
~~~~~~~~~  
  
Gemma toweled off with the rest of the wet ones when someone caught her eye. Standing there  
watching them was the boy she kissed earlier. Feeling her face flush, she tried to ignore the fact  
that he was watching them. But when he yelled out, "Yo! Kisser!!" Gemma couldn't take it.   
She ran from the group into the night.  
  
Bursting through the doors, she felt the tears of embarrassment falling down her face. How could  
she have done something like that? In the fit of insanity to follow her lust for Christian that far.   
Shaking her head, she mumbled beneath her breath, wishing to be somewhere other than right  
there, at that moment.   
  
"I wish I was in space," she said softly, sitting down on the ledge of a nearby exhibit. "Nothing  
hurts there. I wish I was in space," she stated again, looking at the mock up of the moon.  
  
Jinx rolled through the background, hearing Gem's plea. Rolling out of the room, Jinx headed  
toward the mainframe computer. Stopping in front of the central computer, Jinx opened up,  
exposing his circuitry as it illuminated setting the computer room into a frenzy.   
  
"Hello...Jinx...how can NASA help you?" a deep voice spoke as the words scrawled across the  
computer screen.  
  
"Put Gem in space," Jinx replied.  
  
"There is no Gem in astronaut program," the deeper voice came back.  
  
Jinx extended an arm and inserted it into the circuit portal. "There is now," he replied, loading  
Gemma into the database system.   
~~~~~~~~~~~  
The next day, training resumed though most of them weren't in the best of spirits.   
  
"How come I have to do all the dangerous stuff?" Gemma complained, standing outside the  
simulator and getting strapped into the arm.  
  
"Come on Gem, Joe Allen and Dale Garvey did this on the Discovery 51a. S'okay," Jade said  
into the radio.  
  
"Somehow I don't think that's gonna make her feel any better," Selah replied. Going through  
the motions for the simulator, Selah and Jade barely spoke unless it was to relay information back  
and forth.   
  
The command console was manned by three of the red team. Smut Queen, Dee, and Christy  
watched the data as it was fed to them from the simulator. Fairy and Meghan watched the  
operations console, making sure the ohms burns were emitted on time.  
  
Andie and Zach stood by with headsets on, listening to the progress of Andie's team. Not  
concerned when they heard the screaming coming from Jareth's team at the Multi-axis trainer,  
they just assumed his team was slacking off and having a bit of fun. It wasn't until they heard  
Spidey scream, Get me outta this bloody thing!' did they have cause for worry.   
  
"Atlantis this is control. We have orbit confirmed one-two-five nautical miles. Inclination of.."  
Meghan stated, punching up the stats then continuing, "thirty five degrees. You are in position  
for satellite recovery," she finished, watching the screen.  
  
"Leelee, you're up," Selah mentioned, glancing over her shoulder.  
  
"Leelee's the best on the RMS," Leelee laughed, taking up the controls.  
  
Gemma was lost in her own daydreams, completely oblivious to what was going on around her.   
Thoughts of shagging Christian and Joaquin filling her mind.   
  
"Don't you worry about a thing Gremlin, I know this arm like the back of my hand!" Leelee piped  
up, then hit a wrong switch when Kara accidentally knocked into her. The arm fell into a steep  
dive, Gemma screaming all the way until it stopped suddenly.  
  
"Sorry Leelee, I didn't know you were there," Kara apologized.  
  
"I almost dropped Gem!" Leelee exclaimed.  
  
"Leelee!!!!" Gemma screamed as though her life were flashing before her eyes.  
***  
The three at the console started laughing. Smut Queen couldn't help but snicker at their  
predicament. "Instigate emergency power loss scenario," she chuckled, knowing that this was  
going to be the kicker.   
  
"Killing power," Dee snickered, flipping a switch sending the simulator into darkness.   
***  
A beep from the sensors alerted the crew to their loss while Gemma's screaming continued.   
"Somebody get me down from here, or I'm gonna be sick! Help!" she screamed.  
  
Leelee freaked. She nearly dropped Gemma, and nobody else could help her out of this bad  
situation that she blamed Kara for. Yeah, if Kara hadn't knocked into her, none of this would  
have happened. Flipping pages in her book, Leelee tried desperately to find the right connection  
to set the RMS into motion again.  
  
Kara laughed. "Leelee, relax will ya? You're freaking out."  
  
"Get me down from here!" Gemma screamed again.  
  
"Control this is Atlantis, we're experiencing electrical failure. Switching to auxiliary cells," Jade  
transmitted.  
  
"Hey, that's my decision not yours okay?" Selah snapped.   
  
"How do you know that's the right one?" Kara asked Leelee, looking at the console in her hands.  
  
"It just is, it's the green one right next to the red.," Leelee replied, placing the wire together to  
make contact and sparking the chips. The CBD's began to close.  
  
"Help!"  
  
"Oh it's okay, I got it right here," she stated, again trying another combination of wiring resulting  
in more chaos.  
  
"Lisee, just crosswire it!" Jade stated, getting up from her seat and moving back.  
  
"Sit down!" Selah said, pointing to Jade's seat. "Sit down...that's an order!" she commanded.   
When Jade didn't listen, she threw her arms in the air and gave up. "Forget it, just forget it."   
***  
The red team laughed at their consoles, watching as the blue team screwed up big time. Not only  
was the pilot not flying the bird, the shuttle commander was humming muppet songs to herself,  
while pretending to play arcade games on the main console.   
  
"What the hell is going on in there?" Andie asked, her tone sounding displeased with the situation.   
"You're showing another ohms burn," Andie commented.  
  
"Oh well the pilot must have hit the switch when she got up," Selah replied.   
  
"Why isn't she at her post?" Andie asked.  
  
"Well she's just too busy doing everybody else's job," Selah replied sarcastically and snickered  
when Jade glared back at her.  
  
"Orbit's decaying shuttle," Meghan stated.   
  
"Okay take over Commander," Andie remarked.   
  
Selah turned around to look at the monitor. "Hey, it's not my job man. You need the pilot to  
take that position, I'm sick and tired of watching the window," Selah rattled off, not caring how  
odd she sounded.  
  
"You're falling out of orbit Atlantis. You're coming up on atmospheric interface," Meghan  
stated, reading the data as it flowed from the computer.   
  
"You're gonna be toast," SQ cackled.  
  
As Jade, Leelee and Kara argued about which connection was right, Selah watched the main  
viewer glow red. With a half hearted scream, she swirled in her seat, running her hand in circles  
as the simulator showed the flat spin.  
  
"Pilot, do you copy...pilot," Andie tried in vain to get through to Jade.  
  
"I'm sorry, Jade's not in right now. But if you'd like to leave your name and number at the tone,  
she'd be glad to get back to you," Selah mimicked a recording device.  
  
Andie removed her headset and tossed it to Zach, making her way toward the simulator. She was  
hot, and her team would know exactly what the deal was with their failure.   
  
"You're coming up on interface Atlantis," Meghan stated again, hoping by some vague hope  
they'd take the hint.   
  
"Roger that Atlantis," Selah replied smugly. "Ah ladies, please return your seats and tray tables  
to their upright positions and extinguish all smoking material, as we are about to land in the red  
zone." Selah remarked. "Whaaaaah No survivors."  
  
"Leelee we're going to flunk!" Jade stated.  
  
"Jade, we're not gonna flunk if you'd just listen to me for a second!" Leelee exclaimed before it  
broke out into a full fledged argument.  
  
Andie stormed into the simulator, anger flaring. "All of you stop it!" she shouted, instantly  
silencing them in a brief second.   
  
"We.." Leelee started but immediately stopped upon seeing Andie's face.  
  
"I'm sorry but Leelee was-" Jade started.  
  
"Leelee?!" Leelee interrupted harshly, breaking out into an argument once again.   
  
"Quiet!" Andie yelled, silencing them again. "I don't wanna hear about it. I can't hear it, you  
know why? Cause you're all dead. You just disintegrated during re-entry," Andie stated  
harshly, wanting them to see the seriousness. "Don't you understand what that means? You're  
all dead because you didn't work together as a team," Andie said, staring at each of them with a  
certain clarity until she turned her attention to Selah. "And you're responsible."  
  
"Me?!" she exclaimed.  
  
"That's right, you. You are Shuttle Commander. That means you are responsible for  
EVERYTHING that happens on this ship." Andie remarked.  
  
"I didn't ask to be responsible, remember?" Selah shot back sarcastically.  
  
"That's a pitiful excuse for killing four people," Andie replied. The whole idea sinking in to each  
of them, that because of their short sidedness, if they had been in the actuality of space they would  
no longer be there for each other. They would cease to exist.  
  
"I can't believe this. Nobody got killed, okay? I mean, it's just space camp," Selah retorted,  
trying to make it all seem alright, though deep down she felt the agony of Andie's words.   
~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Launch possibilities," the deep voice of NASA's main computer called out to Jinx, as every  
possibility flashed across the screen as it searched the database for any plausible circumstance.   
  
"What are possibilities of launching Gem into space?" Jinx asked, watching the monitor closely to  
interpret the data.  
  
"There is no possibility at this time," the NASA computer stated, still rolling through the data as  
quickly as the electronic transmission would allow.   
  
"This is not going to be easy," Jinx replied.   
~~~~~~~~~~~  



	3. SpaceCamp pt3

Days later, Commander Bergstrom was tacking a note to the bulletin board. With curious eyes  
watching, he grinned and looked at the group that surrounded him.   
  
"Hello Commander Bergstrom," Jade said politely.   
  
"Hello girls," he replied politely. "How are you doing?"  
  
Kara stepped closer to the board to see what he was posting. Didn't make sense to her, so of  
course she just had to ask. "What's a firf?"  
  
Zach chuckled at her pronunciation. "That's F-R-F. Means, Flight Readiness Firing," he  
explained.  
  
"What's that?" Essy asked, a wicked grin crossing her face at the thought of firing. "Do we get  
weapons or something?" she beamed.  
  
"No, it's how NASA tests the main engines of the Shuttle. This is the first year we got  
permission for you guys to experience it," he explained.   
  
"Really?" Fairy asked.  
  
"Yep, and some of you are even going to be lucky enough to sit in it. Get an astronaut's point of  
view." Zach stated, moving away from the board.  
  
"Bye," Jade called with a slight wave before returning her attention to the board. "Wow."   
  
Standing there talking amongst themselves and Essy declaring that she should have gotten  
weapons instead, nobody saw the little robot as he paused slightly near the board. As the girls  
separated to make their lessons on time, Jinx talked to himself without a soul to hear him.  
  
"Engine test. Jinx must be ready Thursday, 4 p.m." Jinx spoke, heading for the control room once  
again. Hiding in the shadows, he waited for the last of the humans to vacate the room. When  
everything was shut down and locked tight, Jinx came out and illuminated his circuitry once again,  
this time with the sole purpose of sending Gemma into space on Thursday.  
  
Setting the consoles to life, Jinx concluded that the engine test would have to be changed into lift  
off as long as Gem was on board.   
  
"Worst case scenario... Thermal Curtain Failure," the main computer replied.  
  
"Define Thermal Curtain Failure," Jinx replied.   
  
"Failure of heat shield during engine test, only one booster will ignite. Result: forced launch," the  
main computer interpreted the data as the visions filled the screen.   
  
"Why launch?" Jinx asked, watching everything and interpreting the data as quickly as he could.   
  
"If you do not ignite second booster and launch, the Shuttle will lift off and crash."  
  
"That is unacceptable," Jinx stated, watching the screen.  
  
"To avoid worst case scenario, second booster must be ignited result perfect launch."  
  
"Thermal Curtain Failure possibilities?" Jinx asked.  
  
"One Thermal Curtain Failure every 4.9 million years," it replied.  
  
"Gem won't live that long. Gem need Thermal Curtain Failure. Gem and Jinx, friends forever,"  
Jinx stated.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The long and tedious process of choosing just which of the campers would have the pleasure of  
sitting in on the FRF finally came to a close. Though nobody realized that the results were  
already decided by a short little robot, they still came as a shock.   
  
"What?!" Essy exclaimed, her anger boiling over. "How could those lightsiders get that?"  
  
"Leelee's not a lightsider," Dee remarked, clapping happily for her friends' good fortune.   
  
"Neither is Gemma," Spidey added.  
  
"Can't you just be happy for once Easy?" SQ asked, grinning at the look of hatred that spewed  
from Essy's eyes.  
  
"DCME!" Essy yelled. "Besides, Sith don't do happy."  
  
"Fine, but I'm happy for them!" Christy responded.  
  
"Shut up Christy!"   
  
"Don't worry onna! I'm with you on this one," Paola whispered.  
  
"Come on Essy, maybe they'll let you have a weapon eventually," Spidey threw in, trying to get  
Essy's mind off of losing.  
  
"I have a cupboard and I'm not afraid to fill it," she snickered.  
  
"She's lost her mind," Mairead responded.  
  
"Did she ever have one to lose?" Jen snickered.   
  
They all busted up laughing as Essy crossed her arms unhappily. Though it didn't sit well with  
her, at least some of them would be at the controls when the testing began. A wicked grin  
crossed her face. She liked switches. Switches and buttons...  
  
"What are you grinning at Essy?" Meghan asked, noticing the not so pleasant smile.  
  
"Consoles, and buttons and the supreme power I will have once I take over the world. Oh yes,  
you shall all follow me one day," she laughed.   
  
"Oh boy," Dee snickered. "Congrats guys!" she called, to the blue team.  
  
"Thankee!" Selah smiled big.  
  
"Lucky you," SQ smiled.  
  
"Luck? I don't believe in luck!" Leelee called back with a huge grin. "I'm better than Essy, I'm  
better than Essy, I'm better-" she stopped mid sentence and rubbed her head. "Ow dammit, that  
hurt!"   
  
"That'll teach you apprentice," Essy stated seriously.  
  
"I'm sorry master," she conceded.  
  
Shaking hands and congrats all around, the blue team was too excited to think straight. They got  
to sit inside the shuttle during the firing. It was every camper's dream. Well almost every  
camper. Essy was the exception. She wanted to play with the controls.   
  
"Wanna trade?" Meghan asked with a slight giggle.   
  
"Not a chance Meg," Jade replied, trying to keep control of her excitement.   
  
"Can't blame me for trying," she retorted.  
  
"Of course not," Kara threw in, looking around to find her dad. "Excuse me." she said politely,  
before moving from the group.   
  
Walking up to Jareth, she smiled at those he was talking to, being the polite daughter. When they  
dispersed, she couldn't wait any longer. She had so many questions, she needed answers to.   
  
"Why did you turn us in? How did you even know we were out there that night?" she asked,  
without thinking.   
  
"Kara," he began but she cut him off.  
  
"Why are we here at all?"   
  
"Seems you aren't so keen on the idea of being here?" he asked, his eyes looking over the crowd.   
When she didn't respond, he continued. "I would have thought you would want to spend time  
with your friends. I've heard this place mentioned, and knew that at least one of you would love  
to be here but knew she wasn't fond of being alone," he noted, his gaze falling on her.   
  
"Jade," Kara replied.   
  
"Yes," he responded. "I thought it would be so much easier, and some of the listians needed to  
lean discipline so I brought you all here," he explained. "But that breaking curfew idea should  
never have happened. What ever possessed you to go out onto the beach that night?" he asked,  
his voice stern.  
  
"I just wanted a little fun," she replied, shrugging her shoulders. "I'm assuming you're the one  
that ratted us out."  
  
Jareth faltered slightly, his daughter knew him too well. "Perhaps. Perhaps I've been keeping an  
eye on you all, to make sure you stay out of trouble."  
  
"Then don't do it again," she muttered, knowing that no matter what she said, she couldn't  
change the fact that it was over and done with.   
  
"Congratulations, Kara." he stated simply.  
  
"Thanks, I still can't believe we're going to be sitting in the shuttle!" she exclaimed happily.  
  
"It should have been my team," he responded. "How the blue team won, I'm not quite sure."  
  
"That's an awful thing to say!" she shot back.  
  
"Sorry, dear. I'll catch up with you later. There are some people I'd like to talk to," he replied,  
kissing her cheek and heading off through the crowd.  
  
"We'll show him," she whispered softly.  
~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The day of the engine test came and the air was buzzing with excitement. Though unsure of what  
tomorrow would bring in their training, it was nothing next to the experience they would have in  
the next few minutes. The Blue team boarded a bus and headed toward the shuttle leaving the  
other two teams behind in the control room.  
  
"This isn't fair," Dee said, though happy enough for her friends, she wanted to be out there with  
them just as much as the others. "Don't bother saying it," she stated abruptly, eyes locking on  
Jareth.  
  
"What?" he asked arrogantly, knowing far too well what she was getting at.   
  
"Man your stations campers," Zach called out, watching them all take their seats at a console.   
With a grin, he thought about what Andie must be thinking at this precise moment.  
_____________  
  
"I can't believe we're actually going to sit in the shuttle!" Kara exclaimed happily.   
  
Selah moved up to sit with Gemma. The look in Gemma's face was one of surprise and wonder  
mixed with a little bit of fear. Glancing at her, she smiled. She only wanted to make Gemma feel  
more at ease. "You alright?" she asked, her grin a comfort to Gemma.  
  
"Yeah," she replied, though her voice was full of wistful emotion. She could scarcely believe she  
was going to be inside the Shuttle. How many others would have this opportunity? She smiled  
wickedly just thinking of how much it would irritate the Sith Lord that she and Leelee were there  
and she wasn't.   
  
"Good," Selah replied, looking out the window. Sighing softly at the sight, she felt an  
overwhelming sense of anxiety as the reality of what she was doing finally sunk in. She could  
hear Kara exclaiming how she couldn't believe it, and her smile widened. Glancing over at  
Leelee, she saw all the fear most people would hide deep inside themselves. Shaking her head,  
she only hoped that Leelee would eventually grow out of it.   
  
Glancing back over her shoulder, she saw Jade and Kara laughing and talking amongst  
themselves. Knowing how much this opportunity meant to everyone, she could tell that it was  
something Jade had only dreamed of. Shaking her head at her friend's expression of utter  
happiness, she knew that the only other thing that would make her this happy would be a certain  
Jedi paying her a visit.  
_________________  
  
The doors of the elevator opened and the group tried to control their anxiousness. "The next  
twenty minutes are gonna be most exciting of your lives," Andie said, taking in the breathtaking  
beauty of the shuttle there in front of them.  
  
"Twenty minutes? I wish twenty days," Gemma smiled, her voice full of nervousness.  
  
With deep breaths, the began the walk toward the shuttle door and the ultimate time of their lives.   
Each step closer their hearts beat faster, the joy of being chosen finally making it hard to fathom  
that yes, they were going to sit in the shuttle after all. They almost half expected for Jareth to put  
a stop to it, but as they stepped inside there was no turning back.   
__________________  
  
Jinx rolled up to the main console in the utility room. Lighting his circuits, he interfaced with the  
main computer. "Gem into shuttle. Engine test into launch. Gem into space," his little voice  
stated, as the circuitry came to life.  
__________________  
  
Climbing up into the shuttle, Andie told them all to get into the same seats at the simulator. Jade  
and Selah climbed to the top. Jade jumped up into the pilot's seat. Selah stood between the  
seats, looking at Jade.   
  
"How are we supposed to get up in these things without breaking our necks?" she asked, looking  
over the console.   
  
"Just jump up Selah," Jade stated, running her fingers across the display. "This is so incredible,"  
she breathed.   
  
Selah jumped up onto her seat. "Only thing missing here is a tape deck," she grinned.   
  
Andie grinned at their excitement. Helping Leelee to her seat, she heard Kara and Gemma  
coming in behind her.   
  
"Whoa, this reminds me of the Millennium Falcon," Gemma stated, her eyes wide.  
  
"Nah," Selah replied hearing her statement. "Not big enough. Besides, this thing isn't designed  
for wookies," she said, giggling and cracking Jade up.  
  
"Kara and Gem, take your seats on mid-deck. If you need any help just holler," Andie stated,  
watching them go.  
  
"May the Force be with you!" Selah called, peering down at them with a goofy grin. "Hey Gem!   
Man the laser guns."   
  
"Ugh, lightsiders," Leelee grimaced. Though she was actually looking forward to the tests.   
  
"Alight guys, please put on your helmets and make sure your headsets are plugged in," Andie  
stated, holding hers in her hand. "Pilot and commander, unstow cue cards."  
  
"Roger," Jade smiled. Jade and Selah pulled the cue cards from their holders and placed them in  
front of them. Jade read the gauges to check everything out as she'd been trained to do.   
  
"Is everybody set?" Andie called out. As the roger' replies came to her, she plugged in her  
headset. "Control, this is Atlantis, do you copy?" Andie voice carried through the headset.   
_____________  
"Roger Atlantis, this is launch control. Radio check over," the voice on the other end spoke.   
  
"Solid rocket boosters A and B ignition off," SQ said, manning her station. "Stand by for main  
engine test."  
  
"Stand by," Dee retorted, her eyes flashing over every detail. Though they knew the consoles  
forwards and backwards, they still had the men from the stations standing behind them, making  
sure that they didn't screw it up.   
  
_____________  
  
"Atlantis, do you copy?"   
  
"She's all yours," Andie stated, getting into her seat and strapping down.  
  
"Um, go ahead," Selah said, knowing that Jade was on the edge of her seat.  
  
"Why? Are you sure?" Jade asked.   
  
"Come on, will you answer that?" Selah retorted with a smile.   
  
"Okay," she answered. Flipping the switch on the communicator, Jade took a deep breath.   
"Control, this is Atlantis. Radio check satisfactory, over." she finished, flipping the switch back  
off. All of a sudden she squealed in delight and clapped her hands together, the noise going  
through to reach each and every one of the group.  
  
"We heard that Jade!" Kara called from mid-deck, laughing softly into her headset.   
________________  
  
"Stand by for FRF ignition," Essy spoke, her tone serious as she watched the controls in front of  
her. "In T minus 10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1... Go for main engine test," she stated, throwing  
a glance at the man behind the controls and watched as he flipped the switch.  
  
The low rumble began and turned into something even bigger as the main engines fired and shook  
the stationary shuttle. All eyes followed the stats that printed out across their screens. All was  
going as planned.  
  
"We have main engine fire," Meghan stated.   
________________  
  
"Gem needs Thermal Curtain Failure," Jinx stated, waiting for the right moment, his circuits  
interfacing with the mainframe.  
________________  
  
The crew members couldn't believe what they were experiencing. It was more than they  
imagined, and here they were doing it. Selah and Jade were laughing, Leelee shut her eyes and  
waited for it to be over. Gemma and Kara squealed, enjoying the moment.  
________________  
  
"Thermal Curtain Failure," Jinx said, extending his arm and inserting it into the mainframe. "Gem  
and Jinx, friends forever."  
________________  
The warning system sounded. Instantly a new blip appeared on the screen. Immediately the  
NASA officials took their positions and the campers moved away toward the big window  
overlooking the launch pad.  
  
"We have overheat on booster B."  
  
Zach walked toward him. "Temperature?"   
  
"Twelve hundred degrees and climbing," he replied  
  
"Get that thing operational," Zach ordered.  
  
"The Thermal Curtain is failing."  
  
"Then end the test," Zach stated, looking over the screens.  
  
"We've passed shut down temperature, we can't stop it," he replied.  
  
"We have Thermal Curtain Failure."  
______________  
  
The warning went off inside the shuttle. "What does that mean?" Kara called out.  
  
"Andie!" Gemma screamed.  
______________  
  
"Booster B, temperature is critical."  
______________  
  
Andie flew up from her seat. "Jade, get out of there now!" she yelled, pulling her headset cord  
out.  
  
Jade unfasten the belt and jumped down from the seat, not sure what was going on, but knew it  
had to be serious.  
  
"Andie, make them stop, make them turn it off," Leelee pleaded.  
  
"They're trying!" she shot back, plugging her headset into the pilot console.   
____________  
  
Booster B is near ignition, it's gonna light."  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
  
"Andie help us!" Gemma cried out.  
  
Andie immediately flipped the comm switch. "Light Booster A god dammit. Launch us or we're  
gonna explode!" she yelled, then jumped up into the pilot's chair.  
  
"What's happening?!" Kara screamed.  
  
"Please Andie!" Gemma yelled.  
  
Jade fell down onto the seats below. "Grab her Leelee!" Selah yelled back.  
___________  
  
"Do it," Zach stated.  
  
"Zach, we're not authorized," he responded.   
  
"Light it or they're gonna die," Zach said seriously.  
  
"Ignite Booster A!"  
  
"5...4..."  
  
"Booster ignite on."  
______________  
  
"Leelee hold on to her!" Selah called out.  
  
"I'm trying!" she shot back.  
  
"Go for launch now!" Andie demanded.  
______________  
  
"Light it," Zach stated. The switch flipped, igniting the other booster immediately.   
___________  
  
"Jade!" Andie called out. "Get in the seat!" she yelled, but it was far too late and Jade fell back  
against the wall as the shuttle's engines forced it to break free.  
  
As the shuttle lifted off, the other campers stood there watching out the large window with Jareth.   
They couldn't believe that such a thing could have happened. Jareth was in shock that five of his  
listians were now on their way to space after nearly dying because of curtain failure. He was  
sickened by the thought that it was him that brought them all there. He watched with a heavy  
heart as his daughter and the other four climbed higher in the sky.  
______________  
  
"Go baby go," Zach whispered, his eyes watching the window. "God, we have lift off."  
_____________  
  
"Bye Gem," Jinx said, watching the console.   
_____________  
  
"Instituting roll maneuver Atlantis."  
  
"Roger control," Andie replied, rolling the shuttle over as instructed.   
  
"Roll maneuver complete Atlantis, you're looking good," the controller stated, looking toward  
Zach. "Hey."  
  
"What?" Zach asked.  
  
"You want to take it?" he asked, holding out his headset.   
  
Zach took it and put it on, thinking heavily about the situation. "Uh, Andie," Zach said.  
  
"Geez oh Pete, Zach," she muttered, holding onto the controls.  
  
"Ah, guess you're not going to have to wait so long after all," he said, trying to alleviate some of  
the tension. "Andie, you're going to have to throttle," he said. When Andie didn't comply, he  
stated it once again. "Atlantis, this is control. Throttle."  
  
"Copy control. Main engines at sixty-five percent," she responded. "Jade! Just hang on, it's 3Gs  
I know it's tough!" she called back. "Selah, you've got to drop the solid boosters. They're on  
your side. Now arm SRB separation," she commanded.  
  
"I don't know which ones," Selah replied, her eyes looking the controls over.  
  
"Panel C3," she responded. "On you're right side," she mentioned as Selah looked to her left.  
  
Selah found them and poised her fingers above the buttons.  
  
"Atlantis you are go for SRB separation." the voice came through the comm unit.  
  
"Hit it," Andie commanded.   
  
Selah hit the button and the solid boosters broke away as they continued to climb.   
"Control, this is Atlantis. We have SRB separation," Andie stated.   
  
"They have SRB sep." Bob stated.  
  
"Can't you do something to bring them back?" Jareth asked, looking back to his other listians still  
standing by the window.   
  
"Shhh.." Bob countered, not wanting to deal with him right now.   
  
"Atlantis, this is control, pressed for MECO. You are go for main engine cut off," Zach replied.  
  
"Roger," Andie complied. "MECO is on schedule...over."  
  
"Gah, I don't know where this drill is going to end baby, just hang in there." Zach said softly, but  
was met with static. "Andie?"   
__________________   
  
"Shit," she whispered. "Control this is Atlantis, do you read? Over."  
_________________  
  
"Atlantis?" Zach called. "We're losing her," he stated, turning around to Bob.   
  
"This bird wasn't flight ready Zach. They only have short range radio," Bob replied.  
_________________  
  
"Shit!" she exclaimed, pulling her helmet off. "Selah, we have MECO. Go for ETstat on my  
mark. 3...2...1...Do you know where it is?" she asked quickly.  
  
"I think so!" she replied.  
  
"Mark!" Andie called out.  
  
"Got it!" Selah replied, hitting the button.  
_________________  
  
"They got their ohms burn and still climbing," Zach stated. "Come on."  
  
"Tracking reads... Atlantis at one-eighty by thirty-three. They're in orbit," Bob stated.   
_______________  
  
"Whoa," Selah muttered.  
  
"I didn't touch a thing Andie. Honest," Leelee stated.  
  
"I know Leelee," Andie replied, checking out the stats. Well Ladies, I think we've achieved  
orbit," Andie said, looking out the main viewer.  
  
"Gah!" Selah jumped, as Jade unexpectedly appeared next to her.  
  
"Jade, are you okay?" Andie asked.  
  
"Yeah, I think so," Jade replied, looking at her elbow. Rubbing the bruise, she didn't seem to  
notice anything else out of the ordinary until a slight chuckle from Selah penetrated her thoughts.   
  
"You're floating," Selah said in disbelief.   
  
"Just relax and allow yourself to flow with it," Andie told her.   
  
Jade reached out and pushed herself off the console, floating backwards. "Wow," she giggled. "I  
could lose the lift off, but this is incredible."  
  
"Wow, weightlessness. This is unreal," Leelee stated, releasing her restraints and floating up into  
the cabin.   
  
"I feel like I'm flying," Jade murmured.  
  
"Selah, is this incredible or what?" Leelee grinned, her feet on the ceiling and laughing at Selah.  
  
"Yeah, can hardly believe it," she replied. "You're braver than I am man."  
  
"Kara, Gemma, are you two okay?" Andie called as Jade floated into mid-deck.  
  
"Tell me I'm dreaming," Gemma muttered, watching Jade turning circles in the air.  
  
"Oh, I think I'm going to be sick," Kara muttered with her eyes closed. "We're all going to die,"  
she whined.  
  
"Kara," Jade whispered, looking at her upside down.  
  
Kara opened her eyes to see Jade floating in front of her. "We're already dead," she stated  
bluntly.  
  
Jade giggled. "This feels like a dream."  
  
Kara laughed softly as Leelee came flying through the entrance. All of a sudden something  
touched her face and she screamed until she realized that it was her hair flying in the weightless  
environment. Unfastening her belt, she joined the others.  
  
"Hey Gremlin," Leelee called out, closing in on her prey. "You gotta try this!" she smiled,  
releasing Gemma's restraints.  
  
Gemma squealed as she floated into the air and immediately hit her helmeted head on the ceiling.   
Soon she took pleasure in the experience as much as the rest of them.   
  
"Are you all in one piece?" Andie asked.  
  
Assorted yes and yeah's came back to her as they headed back toward the main cabin. Selah  
unfastened her belt and floated behind Andie as she looked over the gauges and read from a book.   
Kara came up beside Selah looking to Andie for words of encouragement.   
  
"Well, I think," she looked over the console again, "I think we have a few things to talk about,"  
Andie stated, breathing a sigh of relief that they seemed fine for now.  
  
"A few things?" Kara asked.   
  
Andie smiled. "Yeah," she commented, then noticed one of them wasn't there. "Jade?" she  
called, as the group turned around.  
  
Looking out a window, Jade was taking in the beauty of the Earth, cloud cover and continents  
moving by so fast. She could scarcely believe the awe and wonder that surrounded that spectacle.   
She looked around as her friends gathered slowly, coming to see what she was looking at.   
  
"Oh wow," Selah said softly. "Maybe you can touch those stars now, huh?" she commented to  
Jade.  
  
"Oh man, this is intense," Kara stated softly.   
  
Andie released her belt and joined them, the sight of the Earth too much to pass up. Getting  
closer, she stared at the beauty.  
  
"Would you look at that?" Leelee mentioned, her eyes taking in sights she never would have  
dreamed.   
  
"Lemme see!" Gemma spoke, trying to get up closer. "Is that Earth?" she asked almost in denial  
that they were actually in orbit at this very time.   
  
"It sure is Gem," Andie replied, pulling her up with everyone else, despite how short she was.  
  
"Look, there's the coast of Africa right there," Selah pointed out.  
  
"And there's the Swiss Alps," Leelee added, pointing out the window.  
  
"It goes by so fast," Jade commented. "Amazing sunset," she breathed, as the sun disappeared  
behind the rotating Earth.  
  
"I could stay up here forever," Leelee stated.  
  
"Me too," Jade breathed softly.  
  
After the initial excitement wore off, Gemma looked back to Andie. "Andie, I want to go home,"  
she stated plain and simple.   
  
Andie tore her eyes away from the window to see all five of them looking back. It was going to  
be difficult to explain such a thing, and wasn't sure how she was going to do it. Shaking her  
head, she tried to clear the thoughts that seemed to bombard her all at once. They would make it  
home, she'd see to it.   
  
"What went wrong?" Jade asked.  
  
"Yeah, what's thermal curtain failure?" Selah questioned.   
  
"Wasn't it supposed to be a safety scene?" Leelee asked.  
  
"Yeah, how did this happen?" Kara added, looking at their leader with questioning eyes.  
  
"It's not important how it happened. What's important now is how we get back home," she  
replied, then continued. "And we are going home. Plus I'm going to need all your help to get  
there. Selah, you and Leelee stow the af-deck seats," she said, watching them making their way  
though the entrance. "We have no voice contact with NASA, and telemetry is still on," she  
mentioned more to herself than the others as she moved back to the pilot's seat and bringing up a  
monitor. "Let's see, the safest procedure will be for them to bring us down on auto at the next  
available window."  
  
Gemma looked at the screen then out the window. "There are windows out there?" she asked  
softly.  
  
"No, its where we re-enter the Earth's atmosphere at the right time and place so that we can land  
at Edwards Air Force Base," Jade replied.  
  
"First re-entry for Edwards is in twelve hours. Okay, we just sit tight and keep everything  
running until then," Andie stated, turning her attention to the controls. "In the mean time, I'm  
gonna check this puppy out."  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  



	4. SpaceCamp pt4

Walking through the control room at NASA, Zach took each step with a certain purpose; to get  
his wife and the kids home safely.   
  
"Zach, this is absolutely unprecedented."  
  
"Well I don't know what to tell you Ray," Zach replied, stepping up to a screen and watching it  
carefully.  
  
"I've got to give some kind of statement, they're standing right there," Ray motioned toward the  
doors and the reporters that had descended upon the unauthorized launching of the shuttle.  
  
"Look all I know is that I want that gallery cleared out. Rice, do me a favor and take those kids  
back to SpaceCamp," Zach shot back, trying to do his job to the best of his ability.  
  
"But we don't want to go back, not yet anyway," Dee piped up, not wanting to be left in the dark.   
  
"You can't stay here, you're just in the way," Rice replied, grabbing Essy by the arm.  
  
"Let go or die," Essy seethed, causing the man to let go immediately and back up slowly.   
  
"Rice, stop playing around and get those kids back to camp," Zach stated, waving his hand as if to  
make it go faster.  
  
"Look here," SQ spoke up. "We're not about to leave here until we know that our friends are  
safe and sound here on the ground where they belong," she stated.   
  
"Yeah," the others uttered in return.   
  
"Look, we're doing everything we can," Zach mentioned, trying to make them see the gravity of  
the situation. "But you'll only hinder our process if you stay."   
  
"We promise to stay out of your way," Paola uttered. "Come on, they're our friends, our family.   
You can't expect us to just walk away now."  
  
Zach shook his head. He could get into so much trouble with them here, but what other choice  
did he have? They wouldn't rest until they got what they wanted and somehow he knew that.   
Looking toward Jareth he just shook his head. "They're your listians, keep them out of our way."  
  
Jareth nodded with a smile.   
  
Returning his attention back to the display, Zach watched the data but was once again interrupted  
by Ray telling him the president had to be told about this.  
  
"They'll be back in twelve hours Ray," Zach countered.  
  
"How the hell am I supposed to keep a lid on this? People for five hundred miles know the  
shuttle went up." Ray stated exasperated.  
  
"Tell them the truth," Zach retorted quickly then continued. "we launched my wife and five kids  
from Spacecamp. They'll never believe it," Zach grinned.   
  
Ray walked away quickly, not getting an answer nor help from Commander Bergstrom. Looking  
to the group collected around the window, he felt sorry for them. They had no clue what their  
friends were up against. Pushing through the doors, he met the reporters with one intention; to  
clear the gallery.  
  
"What's the reading Jerry?" Zach asked, relieved to have Ray off his back.   
  
"Hey Zach," a voice called.  
  
"Yeah?" he answered, walking to the next console.   
  
"We have to find an earlier re-entry."  
  
"Why? What's the problem?" Zach asked.   
  
"The shuttle wasn't flight ready. They..." he paused trying to find a delicate way to put it, but  
nothing came to mind so he went for the straight forward approach. "They won't be alive in  
twelve hours," he replied.  
  
Zach immediately glanced up at Jareth.   
_______________________________  
  
Selah was sitting in her seat, watching the monitors when she punched up the oxygen supply. A  
blip caught her attention as it displayed the amount they had left. "One tank of oxygen?" she  
muttered, not sure how long it would last. "Uh, Andie?" she called.   
  
"Yeah?" she replied from pilot's seat.   
  
"How long will one tank last?" Selah asked.  
  
"Twelve hours," she replied, staring at the screen and punching in data. "That's not enough.   
We'll need more for re-entry; at least another hour," she stated.   
  
"So what are we going to do?" Selah asked.  
  
Andie looked over to Selah not sure of anything anymore, but she had to be strong if they were  
going to make it out alive. She turned her attention back to the display.  
_______________________  
  
"Re-entry to landing - fourteen hours; estimated oxygen supply eleven hours fifty six minutes,"  
NASA's computer relayed to Jinx.   
  
"Gem will erase?" Jinx inquired, feeding his questions into the command line of the central  
computer.  
  
"Probability one hundred percent," the computer answered.  
  
"Get Gem out of space now. How?" Jinx questioned.  
  
"NASA is working on the problem," the computer answered.  
  
"NASA need help," Jinx replied, exposing his circuitry again and lighting the computer up with  
flowing data in an attempt to help his friend Gem.  
_____________________  
  
Zach grabbed a cup of coffee, this whole thing beginning to get to him. Taking a sip, he stood  
behind the stations. "Any suggestions?" he asked finally.  
  
"Datalys," came the reply.  
  
"Of course, Datalys," Zach agreed, pulling up a chair. "Now if only we could talk to her," he  
mentioned, watching the screen.  
  
"She's a good pilot Zach," he replied, then continued, "she'll think of it."  
__________________  
  
Andie keyed through the systems, not happy in the least. "Great. No oxygen was provided for  
the life support system," she said, continuing to check the data.  
  
"What about the propulsion system?" Leelee asked, then continued. "We could drain the liquid  
oxygen from there."  
  
"The propulsion system uses nitrogen textroside, Lisee. We want to breathe, not dry clean our  
lungs," Jade replied.  
  
Andie looked over her shoulder at them, tapping her fingers on the console. "Come on  
everybody, let's think. We are we going to get more oxygen?" she asked.  
  
"Well I could just run on down to the local Wally-world, maybe pick up an Obi-Wan while I'm  
there," Selah replied.  
  
"Right Zigs," Kara laughed.  
  
"That's it!" Andie exclaimed, reaching across the panels to punch a keypad. Pulling another book  
in front of her, she flipped through the pages and finally found what she was looking for.   
  
"What's it?" Leelee asked, watching her curiously.  
  
"Care to clue us in on it?" Kara added.  
  
"Yep," Andie remarked, pulling down her info pad. "We're going to Datalys."  
  
"The space station," Jade replied with a grin.  
  
"That's right," Andie replied.  
  
"But isn't it still under construction?" Jade asked, glancing at the data pad in front of Andie.  
  
"Uh-huh, but they already have oxygen in storage. Selah get in the seat, the rest of you just hang  
on and prepare for maneuver," she instructed, smiling that she finally had a plan. "We're about to  
transfer to another orbit. I just hope we have time," she sighed, taking the controls. "We're  
going for Datalys rendezvous, prepare for ohms burn." she said primarily to Selah while flipping  
switches to prepare.  
  
"Ah, roger," Selah responded. "Power up."  
  
"Alright Selah, give me a course bearing," Andie asked, her attention on the console before her.   
  
"Course bearing, right." Selah answered, looking across everything. It had to be here somewhere,  
she thought to herself. "Um..."  
  
"Selah, you did this in the simulator, come on." Andie responded.   
  
"I faked it in the simulator," she replied.  
  
"Then get out of the seat. Jade," she called but Selah cut her off.   
  
"Give me a minute, I'll get it."   
  
"Out!" Andie yelled.  
  
Selah unbuckled her belt and moved from the seat. She only wanted a chance to prove herself  
and Andie took that away quickly. Moving to the back, she leaned against the wall and watched  
the progress with little interest. She wasn't happy.  
  
Jade slid into the seat and fastened the belt. Glancing across the console, she took a deep breath  
and knew this was her chance to show Andie what she was made of.   
  
"Jade, give me a course bearing," Andie said.  
  
"Oh niner five five niner," she replied.  
  
"Stand by for ohms burn," Andie stated, then continued. "Go for ohms."  
  
Jade set the ohms burn off, as they climbed in orbit. "Roger," she smiled.   
_________________  
  
"We have Atlantis transfer to a higher orbit at seventy-six point four degrees."  
  
"Ah! She remembered!" Zach broke out joyfully, looking around then back to the monitor as the  
shuttle showed orbit transfer. "Yes!"  
________________  
  
"Give me Datalys ETA," Andie spoke, her full attention at the helm of the shuttle.   
  
"The estimated time of arrival at Datalys is in twenty-six minutes and thirteen seconds," Jade  
replied.   
  
Talking amongst themselves, they were oblivious to Gemma's little problem. "Ah, Selah?" she  
questioned, looking through the doorway at her.  
  
"Did you do it?" she asked, looking toward Gemma, trying to take her mind off of being replaced.   
  
"It was too difficult," Gemma replied.  
  
"Geez Gems, do I have to do everything for you?" Selah remarked.   
  
"Hell no!" she called back. "But, could you explain it one more time? I'm a bit daft and don't  
wanna lose any body parts."  
  
Selah shook her head, and followed Gemma through the doorway. Who would have thought that  
she couldn't figure out how to go to the bathroom in space? And she was always such a bright  
one too.   
______________________  
  
"Jareth, isn't there anything you can do?" SQ asked, pacing back and forth, her burgundy  
highlights shining under the lights of the room.  
  
"No," he remarked.  
  
"Why not?" Christy asked.  
  
"Because I can't interfere now," he replied, leaning against the wall with his elbow.  
  
"Oh?" Essy asked, rasing a brow.  
  
"You mean you can't or you won't?" Meghan asked, crossing her arms across her chest and  
looking back at him.   
  
"I can't," he stated simply.   
  
"Okay, so you're basically saying that the amazing and wonderful goblin king can't help his own  
daughter, and four listians come home safely?" Spidey asked sarcastically from her position across  
the room.  
  
Jareth raised his gaze to meet his listians. Shaking his head, he knew there was no hope unless  
they got back themselves. "No," he replied again. They needed no further explanation.   
  
"But you can't just leave them up there tights!" Dee shot back.  
  
"I can't do anything!" Jareth bit back. Shaking his head, their protests fell silent as they looked  
out the window again.   
  
"I'm sure they'll be alright," Mairead stated softly.  
  
"Yeah," Paola piped up. "Come on Jareth. Who better to be stuck up there than the Star Wars  
nuts? They probably on their way back now."  
  
"Lets hope so," Jareth whispered.  
____________________  
  
"There's Datalys," Jade whispered.  
  
Andie grinned. "We made it."  
  
"Andie, I know we made it here, but how are we going to make through re-entry without help  
from Ground Control?" Jade asked, her eyes still on Datalys, the shiny metal breathtaking in the  
darkness of space.   
  
"Well I've been that a lot of thought lately, and I've come up with one good idea," Andie began.  
  
"I had an idea," Kara stated, coming up behind them.  
  
"What?" Andie asked with a grin.   
  
"You know how you said," Kara began, breaking off and handing her ration to Leelee to hold.   
"Thanks Leelee. How you said they had the telemetry stuff?"  
  
"Yeah," Andie responded.  
  
"And like they could read all our instruments?" Kara asked.  
  
"Right," Andie replied.  
  
"Well I was thinking, or maybe I was just inspired by the view and all, but..." Kara broke off,  
looking out the window. "Whoa! Is that India we're coming up on?" she asked.  
  
"Kara, what idea?" Andie prodded.  
  
"Oh, yeah. Well code. CXD switch?"  
  
"You mean Morse code," Andie grinned.   
  
"I read a book on it once." Kara replied with Jade saying the same thing that caused her to giggle.   
  
"Terrific," Andie replied with a smile. "Go get on the switches. Good idea Kara."  
  
"They've gotta hear us," Leelee commented softly as Kara made her way back to the switches.   
  
"Okay Jade, I need you to help me get ready. It's time for me to get into the airlock," Andie  
stated, moving from her seat with Jade following.  
  
Kara snapped the switch on and off in a series of codes. She would make them hear. Glancing at  
the others before they disappeared toward the air lock, she returned her attention back to the  
switch.   
___________________  
  
The men in the control room went about their business unaware that one of their buttons was  
blinking. Kara's plea for help went unnoticed by the great minds of NASA.  
__________________  
  
The small metallic form of Jinx rolled down the silent hallway, his tiny voice repeating the same  
thing over and over. "Jinx help NASA. Jinx help NASA." He rolled onward toward the main  
control room set on helping NASA get back Gem before she was erased.  
____________________  
  
"Gemma, are all the elements for the space suit in place?" Andie asked, going over her checklist.  
  
"Check," Gemma replied.  
  
"Jade did you double check to see if the portable life support system needs recharged?"   
  
"Check," Jade replied.  
  
"I'll be in there awhile suiting up and depressurizing. I'll establish contact with you when I'm  
ready to go into the cargo bay. Okay, Leelee, open the airlock." Andie said, looking at all of  
them and seeing hope in their eyes.   
  
Leelee took the controls and did as she was instructed, opening the hatch and watching Andie  
climb into it.   
  
"I'm going to bring back two tanks of oxygen. We've got to have a backup. Okay, once I'm out  
there, I'll be gone about twenty minutes. Don't talk anymore than you need, and don't move  
around unless it's absolutely necessary." Andie stated.  
  
"Here Andie," Gemma said, handing her the last of her gear.  
  
"Jade, you're in charge until I get back," Andie said.   
  
Jade nodded and looked to Selah who looked slightly upset by the call. Watching as Andie  
disappeared, they all felt the hope dwindling with each passing moment. Sending them back to  
their stations, the tension remained. Would they actually make it out alive? If they did, they were  
going to kill Jareth.  
  
"I once knew this guy who could hold his breath underwater for hours. Nobody could ever figure  
out how he did it. Maybe it wasn't hours, but it sure seemed like a long time." Leelee began, her  
nervousness getting the better of her.   
  
"Leelee?" Selah said softly.  
  
Kara kept at the switches, watching Leelee all the while.   
  
"He was on the swim team, freshmen year. He used to do it too, slow his breath for hours, just by  
thinking about eating french fries. I guess he really got off on eating french fries. And uh," she  
continued, flipping the pages of her manual book.  
  
"Leelee," Selah said again, getting her attention. "You're using up oxygen chica."  
  
"Yeah," she replied.  
  
Andie entered the cargo bay. This was it. This was the moment that would make or break them.   
She had to do the best, and wouldn't give up until the last breath. "Jade do you read me?" Andie  
broke radio silence.  
  
"Roger Andie," Jade replied.  
  
"I've entered the Cargo Bay and I'm securing the hatch." Andie stated, pushing the hatch closed  
slowly to finally lock and secure behind her.   
  
"Check," Jade stated.  
  
"Kinda makes you miss the good old days at camp, doesn't it?" Andie teased.  
  
"Really," Jade replied, amusement in her voice.   
  
"When I'm locked into the MMU, prepare to open the CBD's." Andie instructed, making her  
way slowly along the cargo bay to the mobile unit. Locking herself into it, she called to Jade  
again. "Jade, do you copy?"  
  
"Roger Andie," Jade replied, listening intently to her.  
  
"Prepare to open the CBD's," Andie stated, taking a deep breath at what she was about to  
embark upon.  
  
Jade turned around and looked to Leelee. "It's a go for Cargo Bay Doors, Leelee."  
  
Leelee took a breath, noticing that she was shaking slightly from the excitement. "Cargo Bay  
Doors," Leelee said, flipping a switch then continuing, "activated."  
  
Andie stood in the cargo bay when the loud creak of the doors fell upon her ears; the only other  
sound was that of her breathing. Watching as they slowly opened up before her, she maneuvered  
the MMU out of the bay, gasping at the sight. "Oh, Zach," she muttered breathlessly as she saw  
the Earth in all it's glory.   
  
"What was that Andie? I didn't quite copy," Leelee inquired.  
  
"Oh, God..." she trailed off. It was more exciting than she could have thought. Knowing she was  
wasting precious time, she headed off toward Datalys.  
  
A constant beep sounded inside the shuttle, making it apparent to all that the sound wanted their  
undivided attention. Jade glanced at the screen and stopped cold. Feeling dread invade her  
rational thought, she only hoped they had enough time for Andie to get back.   
  
"Guys," Jade stated, her mind reeling by what she knew. "We only have one hour left."  
  
Each of them felt the gravity of the situation pressing in on them all at once. Looking to each  
other, they tried silently to reassure one another before they looked back to the monitor to watch  
Andie's progress with growing concern.  
  
Andie reached Datalys and looked around for the canisters, hoping to spot them right off. As  
soon as she thought she'd have to search them out, she smiled. "I found them," she stated,  
sending the statement back to the others.  
  
The cabin of the shuttle broke out into joyful cheers, as the news filtered through the comm-unit.   
Hope was still alive and kicking for the moment.  
  
Andie neared the canisters, reaching out to them, when her helmet hit the metal bars restricting  
her access. "No," she whispered, her fingers reaching out but finding nothing. "Come on,  
please?" she pleaded softly, still not able to reach the canisters. Pulling back, she grasped the  
metal bars with both hands not knowing what else to do. "I just can't reach them. They're still in  
their storage modes. I'm gonna have to try it without the MMU," Andie stated.  
  
"No, tell her not to. She'll have no power, no control. She'll tumble out into space without her  
jetpack," Kara pleaded, fear lacing her words.  
  
"Where is she?" Jade asked.   
  
Andie tried yet again, but still couldn't get close enough to reach them. Hitting her helmet on her  
third try, she couldn't believe they'd come all this way only to fail now. "Dammit!" she  
exclaimed. "It's no good. I just can't reach it," she uttered, looking at the canister merely inches  
out of her reach.  
  
"Well she has to. Tell her she has to get them," Kara shrieked, panicked by the sudden realization  
that the future as she knew it would soon cease to exist.  
  
"Shh... Kara, Kara," Selah stated, trying to calm her down. "She just can't alright?"   
  
"Make her," she choked out, feeling as though her world was tumbling to an abrupt halt with just  
that one instance as the starting point.  
  
"She just isn't small enough," Jade replied softly.  
  
The deafening silence was broken by a single voice. "Well I am." All eyes turned to the smallest  
one of the bunch.   
  
"You can't go out there," Kara replied, shaking her head at Gemma.  
  
"It's a good idea guys," Selah commented.  
  
"I am ready," Gemma stated assuredly. In a matter of minutes, all four of them were trying to  
cram Gemma into the oversized suit.   
  
"Push a little harder," Selah stated, pushing on the bottom of the boot.  
  
"Double check everything you guys," Jade instructed, tugging at the big suit.  
  
"Is it in?" Selah asked, looking toward the hole where her head should have popped out of by  
now. "Is this the only suit we could find?"  
  
"It's the best I could do, it's the only one down there," Kara replied.  
  
"Kara," Jade spoke up excitedly. She had an idea. "Kara, give me your belt!" she exclaimed,  
holding out her hand.  
  
Kara unhooked her oversized belt and pulled it free, disgusted with the thought of the jumpsuit  
being normal again. How unoriginal, she thought until it dawned on her what Jade had in mind.   
"Oh, excellent idea!" she responded, handing it over quickly.  
  
"What are you gonna do with a belt?" Leelee asked.  
  
"We," Jade started, wrapping the belt around one of Gemma's legs and then the other one before  
continuing, "are going to make the suit as small as Gem," she replied, wrapping the belt around  
each arm. "So she can fit through Datalys," she finished, pulling the belt tight and making  
Gemma's head pop out with a smile.  
  
"All right Gemma!" Selah cried out as Gemma started laughing.  
____________  



	5. SpaceCamp pt5

Gemma stepped out of the pressurizing chamber and into the cargo bay. Immediately snapping  
her restraint in place, she glanced out to see the Earth hanging in the sky. "Wow," she breathed  
softly. "Gemma Bale, reporting in," she stated, then giggled at the thought of it. Oh Christian,  
my fair Christian, where on Earth are you?' she whispered softly.   
  
"Now Leelee, I want you to make sure the RMS arm is unlocked and double check everything,  
okay?" Jade instructed.  
  
"Jade," Kara said, waiting for Jade's attention then continued, "radio check is okay."  
  
"Wait a sec," Selah interjected. "What about these doors over here?"  
  
"No, it's okay. They have to be able to get back in," Kara replied.  
  
"Okay Gemma. Get strapped into the RMS and Leelee will swing you over to Datalys," Jade  
said.  
  
"Roger," she responded, looking over the side to see Datalys so far below them. Gasping in  
horror, she freaked. "No way!" she exclaimed, making her way back toward the portal. "Let me  
in! I changed my mind!" she screamed, beating her fists against the outer wall. "Lemme in  
please? Lemme in, lemme in!"  
  
"Gemma, you've got to help Andie," Jade replied calmly as she could under the circumstances.   
  
"No, lemme in. Please let me in?" she shrieked.   
  
"Gemma," Selah stated, trying to think of something to play out this hand in their favor.   
"Gemma, if you don't go you'll die. If you die, then you'll miss next week's Buffy episode where  
Giles sings..." she said soothingly.   
  
Gemma's cries fell silent. ASH was her idol now, oh and she couldn't miss that, could she? All  
those sound clips she downloaded, the video she downloaded... lost because she was chicken.   
Did it matter though? Was she fool enough to endanger her life like this for ASH?  
  
"Yeah, Gemma. We know you're into him," Kara added, trying to help.  
  
"What about Christian?" Jade added softly. "Can you take not seeing Christian's next movie?"   
  
"Or drooling over that hot bod of his?" Leelee added with a wicked grin.  
  
"You won't even get to see the end of Spidey's fic. You're little rompfest with Jaden will be no  
more," Selah added.  
  
"Look," Leelee said.   
  
"Go Gem," Selah whispered.   
  
They watched Gemma's retreating form, cheering her along as she strapped into the RMS. As  
she started across the distance on the end of the RMS, she couldn't believe she was actually doing  
it. Suddenly the arm jerked slight making Gemma scream in fright. "AHHH!!!   
LEEEELEEEEE!!!!"  
  
"Uh, sorry Germ," Leelee responded, controlling the arm with every shred of professionalism she  
had. She had learned the mechanics of it quickly, but that didn't mean she couldn't make  
mistakes.   
_______________  
  
Andie tried again, reaching with all her might but to no avail. She couldn't help them get back,  
and now she couldn't bring herself to the ultimate realization that she couldn't do a thing.   
Sighing softly, she turned around slowly and screamed.  
  
"It's me! Gemma!" Gemma stated quickly, trying to ease her fright at seeing someone out there  
with her in the midst of open space. "I'm small enough to reach the oxygen."  
  
Andie recovered from the shock and smiled. "Oh....yeah," she responded. Helping Gemma past  
her, she talked her through the process. "That's the way Gem, now unstrap the tank and pass it  
over to me," Andie said, watching Gemma do what she couldn't.   
____________  
  
"Only one minute left," Jade stated softly as the beeping continued to haunt their minds.   
____________  
  
"Alright Gem, I'm going to take this back to the ship. The sooner you get that second tank, the  
sooner we can go home." Andie told her.  
  
"I'm hurrying Andie, honest," Gemma replied, her fingers wrapped around the cord.  
  
"I know you are," Andie replied, before heading back to the ship.  
____________  
  
"Leelee, please keep that arm steady, please," Jade said.  
  
"Jade, she's doing the best that she can," Selah interjected.  
  
"I know, but she is trying to load the canister," Jade stated, her voice showing the vaguest hint of  
fear.  
  
"Could you guys argue without talking?" Kara responded.  
  
A single beep permeated their thoughts before the continuous beeping started. Selah reached out  
to shut it off. "Well, that's it campers. All we have left is the air in the cabin," she stated,  
wondering just how long it would last.  
_____________  
  
Gemma pulled on the cord, but that silly little tank just wouldn't come free. Not pleased with the  
prospect of staying up here much longer, she gave it the ultimate tug. The tank broke free and  
pulled Gemma from the safety of the bars.   
  
As she flew through the open space, she reached out for anything she could. Grasping the outside  
of an information dish, she thought she was stopped until it suddenly broke off in her hand. "Oh  
my God!" she gasped, then cried out in terror. "Andie!"  
  
Andie turned around to see Gemma floating past. "Ah....Gem," she said softly, as the small  
woman flew away from the shuttle. Instituting the jet pack, Andie followed her.  
  
"Save me! I can't stop!" Gemma screamed.  
  
Looking out the window, Leelee gasped. "Gemma," she uttered, making the others look as well.   
  
"Gemma, I'm right behind you," Andie said.  
  
"I can't stop!" she replied.  
  
"Don't worry, I'm not going to let you get away from me," Andie responded. "I'm getting  
closer."   
  
"I can't stop, come on!" Gemma urged. Frightened like never before, she couldn't take much  
more of this.   
  
"Hold steady," Andie replied, reaching out to her. "Reach your hand out."  
  
"I'm trying to. I can't reach," Gemma retorted.   
  
"I'm gonna get you," she said, just missing Gemma's fingers, but nudging them enough to send  
her floating on ahead. Andie remained persistent, nearing Gemma once again. "I'm almost  
there," she said reaching out again. "I've got your foot!" she stated happily, pulling her back to  
her. Holding Gemma in front of her, their helmets bumped and she could see just how scared  
Gemma was. "You think you're scared now? Wait until your parents get the bill for breaking  
Datalys," Andie teased, making her laugh softly before towing Gemma back to the ship.  
_______________  
  
"Forty minutes to re-entry," Zach stated, his arms crossed.   
  
"Look at this," Bob spoke up, pointing at the monitor in front of him. "They're cradling the  
arm."  
  
"Let's hope there's oxygen on the end of it," Zach responded.  
______________  
  
Leelee leaned on her station, a book poised directly in front of her. Scared beyond reason, she  
tried desperately to keep her mind on her detail and not on the opposing death that seemed to  
close at hand now. Looking through the small window, she could see Andie and Gemma standing  
in the cargo bay with two tanks of oxygen.  
  
"Andie," Leelee started, looking down at her book. "Connect the ah..." she started, running a  
finger along the diagnostics before continuing. "Tank hose cap to the ah... blue valve," Leelee  
said, scared out of her mind.  
  
Andie looked across the valves then glanced up toward the window. "Which one?" she asked.   
"There are two. Leelee, remember this is pure oxygen. We make the wrong connection we're  
going to be sitting in the middle of a fireball. You must get it right." Andie stated, the seriousness  
in her tone reaching every one of them.  
  
Leelee looked back to her book. She was certain she could do this. "It's the blue valve next to  
the green," she said.  
  
"There is no blue one next to a green," Andie replied, looking across the valves.  
  
"No no no no," Leelee interrupted. "Not green, I meant yellow," she corrected.  
  
"Leelee we're all going to be dead before you make up your mind," Jade interjected, swiping the  
book from Leelee's grasp. Looking at it, she flipped the comm switch. "Andie, it's the blue valve  
next to the red."  
  
"That's the wrong hose," Leelee stated.  
  
"It is not, it's the red one," Jade retorted.  
  
"Will somebody please make a decision?" Andie's voice cut through.   
  
"Andie," Jade said, her voice faltering a bit before she continued. "It's the red one Andie."  
  
"I'm telling you it's the yellow. Now I've been studying this damn book since I came to camp,"  
Leelee retorted heatedly. "Now I know I'm right. Believe me!"   
  
Jade shook her head.  
  
"Do it Andie," Leelee said sternly. "It's the blue valve next to the yellow valve."  
  
Andie worked the valves, readying them for the tank. Securing the tank hose on the valve, she  
glanced at Gemma standing there staring wide eyed back at her. She could see her fear. Feeling  
her own fear, her breaths were shallow. With her hand on the valve, she whispered one word, as  
though it would make everything alright again. "Please." With a deep breath, she pushed the  
valve open. The sudden whoosh sound made her smile as relief set in.  
  
Air filtered in through the vents of the shuttle. Selah laughed as Kara got up next to the vent,  
soaking up the air.  
  
"Oh, good job Leelee," Andie's voice called across the communicator.  
  
Jade stood still in shock. They could have all died because of her. Guilt and grief filled her at that  
moment like never before. She wasn't sure of anything anymore.   
________________  
  
The monitor sprung to life as the men in the control room monitored the progress.   
  
"Alright," Zach said.  
  
"Oh, that was cutting it close," another said.  
  
"They got air!" Zach called through the room, breaking it out into cheers. "Put em on auto and  
bring em on home!" Zach commanded happily.  
________________  
  
"Okay Gem, I have it now. You can go in the airlock," Andie said, pulling the second tank up.   
"And Gem?" she called. "Thanks."  
  
Gemma smiled back at her, then headed toward the airlock as Andie had said.   
  
Andie hooked the second tank up and flipped the valve. As the oxygen started to flow, it  
exploded from a faulty valve, pushing Andie clear across the cargo bay.  
  
Gemma turned around to see Andie flying away and there wasn't anything she could do about it.   
"Andie!" she screamed as she witnessed the tank smacking her with such force against the wall  
that she lost consciousness. "Andie?" she called softly, as she saw Andie floating upward.  
  
Gemma stepped back into the cargo bay, grasping Andie's safety. Pulling on it, she slowly pulled  
Andie back toward the cargo bay, all the while wondering if she was still alive. All of a sudden,  
Gemma noticed something peculiar; something that shouldn't be. "Oh no," she whispered.   
"What's happening?!" she yelled to the others.   
________________  
  
"Status check?" Zach stated, walking along the room.  
  
"We are closing the cargo bay doors," Bob replied.  
  
"Prepare for de-orbit burn," Zach responded.  
______________________  
  
"What's going on?" Jade asked, trying to change their course. "Nothing's responding."  
  
"I know," Leelee agreed.  
  
"Who's closing the cargo bay doors?" Selah asked.  
____________________  
  
"Help me! Andie's not in yet!" Gemma begged, pulling at the safety cord. "Come on Andie.   
Please?" Gemma pleaded softly. "Andie."  
____________________  
  
"It's NASA, they're bringing us down on auto," Jade stated.  
  
"Well make them stop!" Kara shouted, her voice laced with fear.  
__________________  
  
"Come on," Gemma said, pulling as best she could against the cumbersome doors that were  
closing in on her too quickly. "I don't have her! Stop the doors! She's not in!"  
_________________  
  
Kara watched helplessly out the window. "Oh. Look at Andie," she whined, her emotions  
running wild. Scared and full of dread, she couldn't tear her eyes away from the floating form.  
  
"Andie do you hear us?" Jade spoke, hearing nothing but breathing coming from Andie, that was  
a good sign....right? "Andie, come in. Andie can you read us?"  
________________  
  
Gemma stood in the cargo bay, holding Andie's life line when the cargo bay doors closed tightly,  
and the bay was illuminated in the eerie golden light. Standing there in shock, her body seemed to  
go numb, as her mind boiled over in fear. She lost Andie. Her hands still holding tightly to the  
last thread of hope that Andie would somehow miraculously make it back.  
  
The sound of the doors coming together set her on edge. That would be a sound she would  
remember forever. It still echoed in her ears as she looked back toward the window to see Kara  
looking out.   
________________  
  
"Andie?" Jade said again, knowing just how serious the situation was. Andie had to be floating  
outside the shuttle, and with NASA brining them in on Auto, she'd burn up. Looking to the  
others, she didn't know what to do.   
  
Kara held her hand to the glass and matched Gemma's on the other side. So much pain and  
agony they had all suffered, wasn't it enough? Must they go through this as well? She noticed  
the faces of the others and knew they felt just as bad, that their fear was consuming them as well.   
_______________  
  
"T minus twenty three minutes for re-entry window."   
  
"Prepare for RCS burn. Let's turn them around for deceleration," Zach stated, watching his men  
do their jobs.  
_______________  
  
"There's a manual override switch here," Jade said, sitting in the pilot's seat. "I saw it," she  
added, nervousness seeping into every ounce of her being. "Oh where is it?" she asked, panic  
invading her voice as her eyes flew across the console. "Oh," she breathed softly, flipping the  
cover up. "Here it is."  
  
"Wait a minute,"Selah interjected. "If you override NASA now, we'll miss the window. We've  
gotta go now."  
  
"We can't leave Andie, she'll die!" Kara retorted hastily.  
  
Jade sat in the seat taking in everything. Not ready to give up Andie, she was evenly scared to  
miss the window. It would be their only chance.   
__________________  
  
"Manuever complete."  
  
"Standby for ohms burn," Zach directed.  
_________________  
  
"Jade, take the window," Andie's tired voice transmitted through the system. "It's your only  
chance."  
________________  
  
"Prepare for de-orbit burn," Zach stated.  
  
"Ready for countdown," Bob replied.   
  
"10..." Zach started.  
________________  
  
"Nine seconds," Jade said. She couldn't do a thing as she watched the numbers disintegrate.   
"Five," she uttered, her hand above the switch.  
  
"Do something Jade," Leelee pleaded. "Two seconds."  
  
Kara's breath caught in her throat. Everything was going by so fast.   
  
Jade was paralyzed with fear. She didn't know what to do. All the time she kept telling herself  
she'd make the perfect Shuttle Commander, yet here she was scared to make a decision. How  
could she?  
  
Selah's hand hit the switch at the last moment. Turning around, she had a job to do and not a lot  
of time to waste. "Alright, Leelee open the cargo bay doors," she said, then continued. "Kara  
unstow the medical kit. Gemma..." she started, then hit the communicator and continued.   
"Gemma?"  
  
"Yeah?" she replied.  
  
"Can you copy? Alright, now listen. We're going to open the doors. Bring Andie in. This time  
use the foot restraints okay? Hang in there Gem," Selah said. Glancing around to make sure  
everyone was okay, she turned her attention back to the cargo bay. "Okay Leelee, do it."  
  
"Now?" she asked. Opening the doors, she felt overwhelmed at the sight of Andie floating just  
outside.  
________  
  
"Come on Andie," Gemma whispered, pulling her in slowly.  
________  
  
Selah sat down in the commander's chair, pulling a book out and looking over the instruments.   
"Jade," she said, handing the book to her. "Jade, help me run a check on the manual systems."  
  
Jade took the book and stared at it, trying to get back into the groove of things.   
  
_______  
  
Gemma finally got Andie within reach. "Come on Andie," she said, noticing how little she was  
moving. "Let's get you inside."   
  
The hatch opened after depressurizing, and the crew was there waiting patiently. "Okay Gem, let  
her go," Leelee said, grasping hold of Andie's arm. Selah took a hold of the other as they  
cautiously lifted her out.   
  
"Careful Leelee," Selah mentioned, knowing they shouldn't move her too much yet. "Alright  
guys, lets get this thing off of her," she said, gently pulling at the helmet. "Andie? Andie??"   
  
"I'll get her gloves," Jade commented, pulling gently. "Lets get her out of the EMU."  
  
"Good idea," Leelee replied. "Lets move her to a sleep station for more support."  
  
"Kara!" Selah called, hearing the clicking of the switch she'd been working. "Anything?" she  
asked with slight hope.  
  
"No, nothing," she answered regrettably.  
_______________________  
  
"I don't get it. Why would she override auto?" Bob asked.  
  
"They missed the window," Stan spoke up. "How much oxygen did they buy?"  
  
"Not enough to make it to the next window at Everts," another mentioned.  
  
"Why?" Zach said to nobody in particular. "She missed the last chance. What the hell else is  
going wrong up there?"   
_______________________  
  
Zipping Andie into the sleep station, they all wondered what they would do next. They knew that  
they had missed their only chance to get home safely.  
  
"How is she?" Kara asked softly.  
  
"I think she's hurt her arm and a few broken ribs. I don't know really," Selah replied.  
  
"So Selah, what the hell do we do?" Leelee asked straight out.  
  
"Leelee," Selah snapped. "I don't know."  
  
"Well we have got to do something," Kara stated.  
  
"Geez, I'm not a doctor! I don't know what to do!" Selah exclaimed, feeling the pressure that  
came with the job. "Look, guys. Just get back to your stations, and I'll stay here with Andie."  
  
"I want to stay with Andie," Gemma piped up.  
  
"I'll sta..." Selah started, trying to control her emotions. "I'll stay with Andie, okay? You just  
get back to your stations."  
  
They fell silent, filing out of the room slowly. Jade reached the door and glanced back at Selah.   
She looked pained, and that bothered Jade. Moving back towards her, she wanted to make sure  
Selah was alright.   
***  
"I guess we just keep doing what we're doing, right?" Leelee asked.  
  
Kara took to the switches again. Not even thinking that NASA would hear them after all this  
time, she had to keep trying. Just having something to do to take her mind off of everything was  
enough for now.  
***  
"We missed the window," Selah stated, her nerves were shot. She just doomed the entire crew to  
death.  
  
"I know," Jade replied softly.  
  
"And we don't have enough oxygen to last the primary for Edwards," Selah continued.   
  
"You did the right thing," Jade replied.  
  
"Yeah?" she asked. "Right. Really think so?"  
  
"Andie's part of the crew. You took responsibility for her. Somebody had to," Jade replied. As  
hard as it was, she had to go on. She had to show Selah that her decision was the only acceptable  
one, no matter what the cost. "That's what makes a good flight commander," she said, pausing  
slightly. Biting her lip, she continued. "I'm a good pilot...but I'm no commander. My mom  
always says that being boss, and being bossy isn't the same," Jade said, realizing everything she  
was going to lose. "I'm never going to see her again, am I?" she asked, her lower lip trembling as  
she tried not to cry.  
  
"Oh come on," Selah replied. "Of course you are. We all are. And I for one want to see my  
mom, and my kitty," she went on. "We'll think of something."  
__________________  
  
"No, sir there's nothing new here. Yes sir, we'll stay in touch. Goodbye Mr. President."   
Hanging up the phone, the man turned around to shoot Zach a look before heading out of the  
control room.  
  
"We're missing something," Zach muttered, a nagging feeling tugging at the back of his mind.  
  
"What we're missing is a miracle," Bob shot back.  
  
There not far from where he stood, a single red button blinked bleakly for anyone to  
acknowledge.  
__________________  
  
"I got an idea," Leelee said.  
  
Kara was still working the switch. "Well let's hear it," she replied.  
  
"Come here," Leelee stated, heading back to where Selah was. Peeking in through the door, she  
wasn't sure how to go about it. "Hey ah, guys?"   
  
"Yeah?" Selah responded.  
  
"I have a question. I was looking outside and wondering. Is Edwards the only place we can land  
this thing?" Leelee asked.  
  
"I don't know, is it?" Selah replied.  
  
"I don't know," Jade added.  
  
"I mean it seems I remember reading something about the shuttle landing in White Plains or  
something," Leelee explained.   
  
"White Plains? Leelee come on, that's in the middle of New York," Selah countered.  
  
"White Sands," Jade grinned. "White Sands, New Mexico. Columbia of 82 landed there because  
the strip at Edwards was too wet. It was a big emergency!" she explained excitedly.  
  
"So if we can make the window to White Sands?" Kara said.  
  
"We can land there," Jade replied.  
  
"Kara, get going," Selah stated.  
  
"Make them hear us," Jade added.  
  
"Alright," Kara grinned, heading back out to her switch again with a new hope.  
  
"Leelee, I love you. Check out the coordinates okay?" Selah said.  
  
"You got it," Leelee responded, disappearing quickly.  
  
"Gemma, you take care of Andie for me?" Selah asked. "Let's see if we can navigate this bird  
ourselves!"   
_________________  



	6. SpaceCamp pt6

With massive reporters wanting the scoop on the story, they were told the same thing time and  
again. There would be no speculation on anything, no matter how hard they tried. Jinx rolled  
through the crowd unnoticed and entered the control room.  
  
"Jinx put Gem in space...Jinx can get Gem back," his tiny metallic voice uttered as he rolled  
through the room. "Jinx put Gem in space...Jinx can get Gem back....Jinx put Gem in space."  
  
"How'd you know about Gemma Jinx?" Zach asked curiously.  
  
"Jinx and Gem friends forever," he replied.  
  
"Oh my God," came a cry of disbelief. "Get that thing out of here, get security."  
  
"Wait a minute. Wait a minute, maybe he can help us unless you've got a better idea?" Zach  
stated.  
  
Jinx's light components started to blink with the same pattern as the button. Swiveling his head  
to find the source, he immediately cried out. "Yo! Gem!"  
  
Security walked up and grabbed the little droid.  
  
"Wait a minute!" Zach shouted. "Jinx, how can you help NASA?" he asked.  
  
"C-O-M-E-I-N-C-O-N-T-R-O-L," he began, repeating it over and over.  
  
"Come on, get it out of here," Bob said, as the security guards picked the little droid from the  
ground.   
  
Zach watched as Jinx was carried toward the door, listening to what he was saying but not  
making any sense of it.  
  
"C-O-M-E-I-N-C-O-N-T-R-O-L...come in control..." Jinx kept going. As they neared the door,  
the droid just wouldn't give up. Sticking his legs into the door frame, he held them there; not  
willing to go unheard. "C-O-M-E-I-N-C-O-N-T-R-O-L...come in control... Gem's code!"  
  
"Morse code?" Zach asked as he turned around to see if he could glimpse what Jinx had seen.  
  
"Gem's code!" Jinx stated.  
  
Zach turned his attention to the control panel and caught a glimpse of the miracle they had waited  
for. "Damn! They're talking to us!" he exclaimed as his gaze fell on a single button, blinking  
over and over again. "We got Morse code, Jack get over here and translate this! Jinx, I'm  
treating you to a can of oil."  
  
"Request...alternate...landing...site... white.." Jack translated.   
  
"White Sands, Columbia 82, check it out," Zach uttered.  
  
"White Sands re-entry window is nine minutes," Bob stated.  
  
"Get me White Sands," Jim demanded. "We're going to have to send them a landing software  
update. Damn, I hope White Sands is ready for this."  
  
"They'll make it ready, it's our only shot," Zach retorted.  
__________________  
  
Kara, beginning to get tired, still kept at the switch. Losing her patience, she tapped the wall.   
"They're never going to hear this."  
  
"Just keep going Kara," Jade replied.  
  
Kara touched the switch but jumped a bit as the buttons flashed before her eyes. Turning around,  
she noticed that not just a few were blinking but they all were. "What's wrong now?" she asked,  
not wanting to have something more thrown at them. Staring in shock, she couldn't believe what  
she was seeing. "Whip me, beat me, take away my charge card, NASA's talking!" she cried.   
  
The shuttle broke out into cheers of happiness as they realized how relieved they were. Various  
cries of disbelief floated through the small space, but now NASA was talking and they had new  
hope.  
  
Gemma came through the door, a look of shock on her face. "Did someone say NASA?" she  
asked.  
  
"It's NASA!!" they replied in unison.  
  
"Yay! NASA!" Gemma exclaimed.  
  
"Guys...guys!" Kara broke in. "They need an ohms burn like now!"   
  
"Ohms burn coming right up," Selah stated, hitting the switch.  
  
"Window coordinates," Jade mentioned, programming her end.  
_______________  
  
"Tell Andie she's got to slow that thing down to forty-eight hundred," Zach mentioned.   
  
"It's not Andie, Zach. I just got that." Ben mentioned, nodding toward Jack as he translated the  
code. "Andie's hurt. Some camper named Jade is flying the bird."  
________________  
  
"One thirteen by seventeen," Kara rattled off to Leelee, watching her instruments closely.  
  
"Window coordinates one thirteen by seventeen," Leelee acknowledged, passing on the  
information as she readied her station for interface.   
  
"Roger that," Jade replied, turning to look at the figures Selah and she had come up with. "We  
figured two fifty by nineteen," she smiled.  
  
Selah shrugged her shoulders. "Well, we weren't that far off," she mentioned, ginning goofily.  
  
"Our time parameter...oh two ten," Leelee stated, checking the info status. "Ah, we have to be at  
re-entry at oh two ten and that's in..." she looked down at her Scooby Doo watch and her eyes  
widened in realization. "That's in six minutes!" she squealed.  
  
"Gemma?" Kara called, manning the buttons. "Zach wants to know how Andie's doing."  
  
"Gemma," Andie spoke softly.   
  
"Andie!" Gemma replied gleefully.  
  
"Oh," she breathed, the thumping in her head lightening a little. "Get me a headset."   
  
"She wants a headset!" Gemma yelled.  
  
"She wants a headset?" Leelee questioned.  
  
"Alright!" Gemma exclaimed, as she flew threw the air with the extra headset. Handing it to  
Andie, she positively beamed at her.  
  
"Okay, Andie?!" Selah called out. "Relax, don't worry about it. We can handle it, okay?   
Gemma, you and Andie get strapped in."  
  
"Get me out of this now," Andie stated, not wanting to be immobile any longer.  
  
"Okay," Gemma conceded, unzipping her.  
  
"Jade?" Selah started, seeing panic cross her features.  
  
"Selah, you know I never knew how to do this," Jade started excitedly, checking all the systems.   
"I don't know?" she uttered uneasily.  
  
"Of course you can do it," Selah responded.  
  
"No," she started nervously. "It's re-entry..."  
  
"Look, what's the worst thing that can happen?" Selah asked. "We'd all die, right? Well we'll all  
die if you don't do it, so? Just relax okay? You're panicked."  
  
"You're damn right I'm panicked!" Jade retorted quickly, her voice edgy.  
  
"Okay, fine. That's perfect, I'll do it." Selah replied, pulling the book from Jade's hands.   
"Alright. Kara? You ever read a book on how to fly this thing?" she asked, flipping through the  
pages at random.  
  
Kara only laughed from behind them.  
  
"Okay," Jade smiled, pulling the book away from her. "I'll do it."  
  
"So competitive, aren't we?" Selah grinned. "Okay team. Put these helmets on, and lets do it."  
  
"Okay, Jade." Andie said, securing her headset.  
  
"Alright," Jade responded softly.  
  
"Lock coordinates in," Andie stated.  
  
"Coordinates locked in," she uttered.  
  
"Stand by for ohms burn," Andie responded.  
  
"Okay," Selah replied. "Twenty-nine seconds and counting." she said, snapping her belt. "Hey  
Gem. We're going home," she said, knowing how much that would please the Brit.  
  
"Great!" she responded. "I'm starving!"  
  
"Alright, ohms burn on my mark," Selah said, watching the indicator. "3-2-1-mark," she said,  
pushing the button for ohms.  
  
"Preparing for Y Maneuver," Jade replied.   
  
"You're doing great pilot," Selah commended.   
_______________  
  
"Come on Jade, you can do it!" Zach spoke up, eager to see them back safe and sound on the  
ground. "You can do it. Just take it easy," he mentioned, watching the monitor.  
  
"Entry interface in...two minutes," Bob stated. Zach looked at his watch.  
___________________  
  
"Re-entry's in range," Selah said.  
  
"Prepare for one eighty roll," Andie instructed.  
  
"Standing by," Jade replied.  
  
"Okay, and uh..." Selah started, watching her instruments accordingly. "Go for roll."  
  
Jade moved the joystick slightly, rolling the shuttle over.  
  
"Hey, looking good! Whoo!" Selah grinned.   
  
"We're passing two hundred and thirty-five degrees. On our way to one eighty Andie," Jade  
spoke up, keeping her attention where it belonged.  
  
"And you said you couldn't fly this thing," Selah teased.  
  
"I think we came around too much," Jade said, looking at the indicator. "Oh no, wait a minute!"  
  
"We don't have a minute. What's wrong?" Selah asked quickly.  
  
"What's happening?" Gemma asked. From below, she couldn't see a thing.  
  
"Look!" Jade said, indicating the window. The shuttle was now in a flat spin.  
  
"Jade, make it stop!" Kara shouted.  
  
"Jade, you're in a flat spin. You've got to concentrate," Andie stated seriously. She knew Jade  
could pull it out, she just had to make her see that.   
  
Jade began counter maneuvers, trying her hardest to get it under control.  
_________________  
  
"She lost it. She's coming in out of control," Zach stated, watching the degree indicator.  
  
"...station's going to black out in 30 seconds."  
  
"Tracking's going to lose them," Ben commented.   
___________________  
  
"Coming up on re-entry, we've got to stabilize," Jade stated nervously, knowing that if she didn't  
get the ship under control by then, they'd burn up.  
  
"Hey guys! Get strapped in!" Selah called back, sending Kara and Leelee straight for their seats.   
Suddenly the lights flicked off and another alarm sounded.   
  
"What happened to the lights?" Kara asked curiously, as her mind thought of nothing but bad  
things.  
  
"The trainer," Selah said, trying to get Jade's attention. "Remember the trainer. You can do it,"  
she commented, knowing full well that Jade had done well with the trainer at camp.  
  
"Andie?" Jade called, scared that she would be the cause of all her friends' deaths. The pressure  
was almost unbearable. None of them realized what hung in the balance of this one simple  
maneuver.  
  
"Jade listen to me," Andie started, then continued, "We talked about when it would be your turn?  
This is it. Do you copy?" Andie asked.  
  
Jade took a deep breath and exhaled, trying to push everything else from her mind. "I copy," she  
replied softly, once again putting her full attention to the controls. She would do it; she had to.   
Shutting her eyes briefly, she opened them with a new determination. Two roll overs later and  
she had control again, heading back toward the window.  
  
"Good work!" Selah commented.  
  
"Okay, you've got to bring the nose up," Andie told her. "You have to go in at an angle."  
  
"Right," Selah uttered, looking over the index. "Re-entry angle should be thirty degrees at least.   
We're at twenty-six. Twenty-seven, alright, keep going," Selah urged as she heard the shuttle  
reach the atmosphere. "Twenty-eight!" she shouted as they hit interface.  
_______________  
  
"Ionization blackout."  
  
"We've lost contact," Ben stated, looking toward Jareth and his group of listians that had found  
their way back after hearing that there was a possibility of the shuttle coming down.  
  
"What's going on?" Dee whispered softly, watching the men scurrying around the room.  
  
"Shoosh double oh negative," SQ said, grinning.  
  
"I'm secret agent smut girl, not double oh negative silly," Dee replied softly.  
  
"Well if you're a secret agent, then go find out what's going on," Essy interrupted.  
  
"I'll just do that," Dee grinned, sneaking away from the group."  
  
"Alright, who says she's caught in the next five minutes?" Paola asked, straightening her shirt.  
  
"I say three," Spidey answered.   
  
Dee was escorted back to the group by security.  
  
"A new record," Christy laughed.  
  
"They're in some serious shit guys," Dee spoke softly.  
  
"What? What do you mean?" SQ asked, not at all pleased with the information.  
  
"The instructor isn't flying. Jade is," Dee whispered.  
  
"They're doomed," Essy quipped. "Never let a lightsider have control."  
  
"Shut up Easy," SQ replied quickly, not pleased with her reaction.  
  
"DCME!"   
  
As the seriousness sunk in, they quieted down, not sure of what the future held or if they would  
ever see their fellow listians again.  
__________________  
  
"Watch the readout on the nose attitude indicator," Andie instructed. "You can fly it Jade," she  
mentioned when she heard Jade's uneasy yelp. "Keep the nose at thirty degrees."  
  
"Come on, twenty-nine," Selah said, watching the indicator. "Just a little bit more, push it...  
thirty!" Selah said.  
  
It was merely a matter of moments when the nose dipped down to twenty-one. The heat  
intensified with each passing second. "It's not holding," Jade muttered.  
  
"We're burning up!" Kara exclaimed.  
_________________  
  
The control room was quiet as they waited in anticipation for Atlantis to make an appearance.   
Glancing at Jareth, Zach could see they knew what was happening just by the look in their eyes.  
  
"Come on, be there," Zach said.  
________________  
"Don't push it, ease up on the yaw jets," Andie told her.  
  
"Come on. Come on, keep holding it," Selah encouraged.  
  
Jade got the nose to nearly thirty, before it dipped again. "Come on," she muttered, slowly  
raising it back up.  
  
"Jade, you can do it," Andie encouraged her.  
____________________  
  
"Shouldn't they be down by now?" Meghan asked, breaking the silence.  
  
"I don't know," Mai replied.   
  
"Lets hope so," SQ added, waiting anxiously for any news in the slightest.  
___________________  
  
The alarm still sounding, all of a sudden it just stopped. The shuttle smoothed out and stunned  
the crew.   
  
"Where are we?" Gemma asked quietly.  
  
"We're dead. We didn't make it," Kara replied, her eyes wide. Leelee sat beside her with a grin  
as she played the Scooby theme on her watch.  
  
"We made it," Jade breathed. "I know we did."  
_________________  
  
"...picked em up." came a random voice, causing the listians to look in that direction.  
________________  
  
"You did it," Selah grinned.  
  
"She did it!" Gemma exclaimed.  
  
"Good job Jade," Andie commended.  
  
"Good flying Jadey!" Gemma called out, screeching happily. "Whoo!"  
  
Jade sighed, relieved it was over. "What a job?" she mused, not wanting to go through that again  
for a very long time.  
  
"You did it Jadey," Selah stated again, happy to be back where they belonged.  
  
"No, we all did it," Jade replied.  
  
"Damn right we did!" Kara cried out.  
  
"We all did it," Leelee repeated.  
  
"Atlantis, this is control. Do you copy?" a voice broke through the excitement.  
  
"Mission control!" Gemma said, pleased that they were back in one piece. Her mind wandered to  
ASH and his voice, Christian and his hot bod...  
  
"NASA," Leelee smiled.  
  
"Copy that control. This is Atlantis," Selah returned.  
___________________  
  
"Alright!" The control room broke out into cheers of joy as the signal came across.   
  
Jareth and the listians heard the news as well.   
  
"Andie are you alright?" Zach asked, just wanting to hear the sound of his wife's voice.  
  
"Yeah. We're all fine," Andie replied. "Just real happy to be home."  
  
The shuttle flew through the air, the lights of the city sparkling brilliantly from below. A feeling  
of calm swept through them as they finally let down their guards. They were home.  
  
"Atlantis...we have you on auto and we are brining you home," the voice stated.  
  
In the thick of night, it was obvious as they were nearing the runway; there was no mistaking it.   
Even in the black of night, it shone like a beacon calling out to them. With anxious hearts and  
minds, they couldn't help the joy that filled them as the wheels touched pavement, giving the last  
evidence that they were safe; they were home.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*   



	7. SpaceCamp Epilogue

"Ah man, we need to be in White Sands," SQ muttered, happy that they were safe on the ground.   
  
"Gather around listians," Jareth prompted, calling a crystal into his hands. "Camp is over. Now  
is the time for celebration."  
  
"Where we going?" Dee asked quickly, walking closer.   
  
"To them," he replied simply, tossing the crystal without a second thought. As it descended  
toward the ground, Zach walked up and was caught amidst the magic. Touching the floor briefly,  
the crystal shattered into pieces, sending glitter flying around them, capturing their essence and  
carrying them away upon the breeze.  
  
"Zach," Bob called, turning around when no reply came. Glancing around the control room, he  
noticed that along with Zach, Jareth and his listians were nowhere to be seen.  
  
Jareth, the listians and Zach appeared on the darkened runway at White Sands. Zach's eyes wide  
with shock, he was speechless. There was some explaining that Jareth would have to do, but now  
was not the time as he watched his wife being carried on a stretcher. "Andie!" he cried out,  
running toward the ground crew.  
  
"Well, he's got what he wanted, now where are my listians?" Jareth asked, his eyes surveying the  
darkened landscape with precision. Within moments, he spotted them and traversed the distance  
to embrace Kara quickly. "I thought I had lost you," he whispered softly.  
  
Kara didn't reply. She just held tight to her father as she felt her eyes well with tears. She was  
just glad to be home.  
  
Jareth glanced at the others, seeing relief across their features. "Thank goodness you are safe and  
sound," he stated, reaching a gloved hand out toward them. Gemma took his hand, followed by  
the others.   
  
"Okay, enough of this mushy stuff," Essy interrupted. "Lets party!"  
  
"Yeah!" other cheers invaded the air. Soon, they found themselves standing in the castle with  
every provision under the sun needed for a blowout party.   
  
As the night progressed, each of the listians had a blast, some with escorts compliments of Jareth,  
some just talking with friends was quite enough. At least he wasn't fool enough to combine Sith  
and Jedi together in the same room again. Wait, he thought. Essy was Sithly enough as she  
tormented the Jedi there.   
  
Selah walked around with Jonathan Rhys Meyers, grinning from ear to ear. She was so fond of  
him, it was all that she could do not to spontaneously combust in his presence. Pacing her breath,  
her heart beat ferociously in her chest at the sound of his voice. Looking into his eyes, she nearly  
melted then and there. Before too long, the two of them disappeared.  
  
Dee danced with Bond and Sting since Jareth knew how much she adored them both. Every time  
she looked up, Jareth was standing there staring back and watching Bond closely. With a laugh,  
she knew that Jareth wouldn't let Bond have too much fun considering that his listian was in lust  
with him.   
  
Kara danced with David, moving smoothly across the floor to the enchanting melody floating  
through the air. With not a care in the world, they did what they did best, concentrated on each  
other.  
  
Leelee giggled from the corner. Standing there with her blob of ink, she couldn't control her  
anxiety. Matt was her favorite, and she wouldn't pass up the time she had thanks to Jareth. All  
the shows she'd seen only added to her love of this cartoon.  
  
Jade stood in the corner with a blonde haired blue eyed man (yep you guessed it. The wonderful,  
absolutely perfect Luke) talking to SQ, Christy and Paola. Paola laughed as Gemma tripped and  
fell into the arms of the eager Christian. Blushing ferociously, she concentrated on just him,  
thanking Jareth for the time she would have until he had to return back to the real world. Sighing,  
she took up the dance, moving in close and rubbing against the mighty Christian Bale.   
  
The rest of the listians danced the night away, all except for Essy. She stood on the sidelines,  
drinking Jareth's special punch and trying to think of a good way to take down all Jedi. Angry  
that Jareth wouldn't let her bring her weapon of choice, a chain saw, she smirked when she  
thought of all the chaos she could create.   
  
"Cheer up Easy, the night is still young," a voice spoke soothingly to her. As her eyes slowly  
came to land on the owner of the voice, her usual comeback faded from her lips. "And what a  
night you're going to have." he smirked.  
  
Essy grinned wickedly. Pulling the blonde Spike behind her, she quickly vacated the premises not  
to be seen for the remainder of the night.   
  
Spidey tried to make the best of her time, not at all pleased that Kara had David to herself. But  
that's what happens when you're dad makes out the party list and you're in lust with Bowie,  
right? Sighing softly, she looked across the crowded room and there he stood, perfect as ever, his  
grin lighting her fire. "Tommy," she breathed, watching him sachet across the floor. Her heart  
skipped a beat as he stopped in front of her, his smile devastingly breathtaking.   
  
"Hello," he said, taking her hand and kissing the back softly. Spidey was speechless, uttering not  
a sound even as he led her away through the crowd.  
  
Jareth stood away from the crowd, watching with interest how his listians reacted to being given  
what they wanted. Some took the opportunity and jumped him, while others just seemed to enjoy  
the company.   
  
"Nice party Jareth," Meghan stated, walking up beside him. Fairy walked up on the other side.  
  
"Why don't you two go, have fun?" Jareth asked, glancing at each of them.   
  
"Not until you do," Fairy replied, smiling softly. "You've looked out for everyone, so you  
deserve this party as much as anyone here."  
  
"Yeah, go on Jareth, let your hair down," Meghan responded, then smiled shyly. "Second  
thought, that wouldn't be a good look for you, but at least get out there and have some fun!" she  
nudged him toward the crowd.  
  
Jareth smiled, bowed to the two women and wandered off through the crowd. Walking closer to  
Gemma and Christian, he was appalled by their behavior and scoffed. "Get a room!" he called out  
to Gemma as she rubbed the full length of Christian and he ran his hands across her body.  
  
Gemma snapped around to grin at Jareth. "Okay tights! Thanks!" she called back, grabbing  
Christian's arm and leading him off with only one thought going through her mind; she's gonna  
shag Christian until his eyes bugged out.   
  
Then night continued on until finally they all went their separated ways, each taking their hopes  
and dreams along with them to keep for another day. Leaving Jareth alone in his castle gave him  
ample time to contemplate his next idea to teach them discipline.   
  



End file.
